Accessibility and characteristics of memories of the future

Abstract

Recent research suggests that some imagined future events are encoded in memory, leading to the formation of "memories of the future". However, questions remain regarding the exact components of future event simulations that are encoded and the factors that determine their accessibility. To address these questions, the present study investigated memory for previously imagined future events using both free and cued recall tasks. The results showed that most future event simulations were successfully encoded and remained available in memory after a one week delay, but only some of them were readily accessible, whereas others could only be accessed when relevant cues were provided. Persons and locations were particularly well remembered, suggesting that these components are central to the simulation and memorisation of future events. We also found that memory for future event simulations was related to the clarity and familiarity of represented persons, the subjective feelings of pre-experience and mental time travel, the importance of imagined events to personal goals, and their emotional intensity during the initial simulation phase. Taken together, these findings expand our understanding of the formation, accessibility, and characteristics of memories of the future.

Validating “belief in occurrence” for future autobiographical events.

“…Rehearsal ratings for future events were lower on average in Ernst and D'Argembeau (2017) than in the current study. The future events elicited in this study were rated fairly high on rehearsal, which, as previously noted, suggests that many of the future events may have previously been imagined/constructed and that participants may have retrieved memories of previously constructed future events (Jeunehomme & D'Argembeau, 2017;Szpunar, Addis, McLelland, & Schacter, 2013). found that repeated simulation of novel future events leads to future event representations becoming more detailed and perceived as more plausible.…”

The dynamics of memory retrieval for internal mentation

“…Imagined events that were more detailed, more plausible, and more familiar were more likely to be remembered. Another study showed that imagined future events that could be recalled without the help of cues (i.e., in a free recall task) were rated as more personally important and involved more intense emotions 22 .…”

La Intención Es Lo Que Cuenta. Una Revisión Sobre La Detección Del Engaño en Intenciones

“…Antes de avanzar en el desarrollo del presente artículo, explicaremos el concepto de EFT y algunas de las investigaciones relacionadas con este tipo de imágenes mentales (Jeunehomme & D'Argembeau, 2017;Lehner & D'Argembeau, 2016). Esto facilitará la comprensión de los siguientes apartados donde desarrollaremos los estudios sobre el engaño centrados en intenciones.…”

“…Ulteriores estudios relacionados con la simulación de hechos futuros muestran que los detalles de una escena imaginada, la plausibilidad de que suceda y la familiaridad de las personas imaginadas, aparecen como importantes predictores en el almacenamiento en la memoria y posterior recuperación (McLelland, Devitt, Schacter, & Addis, 2015). Una parte esencial en la memorización y recuperación a posteriori de una simulación futura, lo constituyen las personas, los lugares y las emociones (Barsics, Van der Linden, & D'Argembeau, 2016;McLelland et al, 2015;Robin, Wynn, & Moscovitch, 2015;Szpunar, Addis, & Schacter, 2012), por encima de los objetos o las acciones (Jeunehomme & D'Argembeau, 2017). Una vez detalladas algunas de las características del EFT, a continuación entraremos ya a desglosar las diferentes aproximaciones en las investigaciones relacionadas con la detección del engaño en intenciones.…”