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Time travel in psychology: How do humans revisit the past and envision the future in their minds?
What is known in psychology as "mental time travel" refers to the ability of humans to mentally reconstruct personal events from the past (i.e., episodic memory) and imagine possible scenarios in the future (i.e., episodic prediction/future thinking). The term originated from the work of Thomas Suddendorf and Michael Corballis and is based on Endel Tulving's earlier contributions to episodic memory.
"The study of mental time travel involves the relationship between memory and prediction, which has been studied by many psychologists, cognitive neuroscientists, and philosophers."
This concept in psychology is thought-provoking because it not only has to do with how we remember the past, but also how we plan for the future. This field of research involves the exploration of human autonomy, self-awareness and free will.
What is psychological time travel and why is it important?
This ability allows us to find and recall important moments in our lives and to envision possible future scenarios. Tulving (1985) pointed out that episodic memory involves a kind of "self-awareness" and requires a first-person subjective experience, while semantic memory is related to "cognitive awareness" but does not require such a psychological state. simulation.
"Mental time travel is not a single ability, but consists of multiple processes that complement each other, making recollection and imagination no longer pure memory."
Areas of the brain involved
Due to the nature of mental time travel, many neuroimaging studies have revealed different areas of the brain in adults when they engage in mental time travel, especially the activity patterns when imagining future events and recalling past events. These studies show similarities in how different brain regions are involved in thinking about the past and the future, which may be closely related to our sense of self.
Evolution and Human Uniqueness
The ability to mentally time travel is thought to have been important to humans in evolution, helping us to prepare, plan and shape the future. However, whether other animals have this ability remains controversial. The Bischof-Köhler hypothesis states that non-human animals cannot perform actions without a current drive state, such as seeking water without being thirsty.
"If mental time travel is unique to humans, then it must have a long history, perhaps more than 6 million years old."
The developing child
The study found that the development of mental time travel goes through multiple stages, and usually when children are around four years old, the relevant psychological sub-processes have begun to mature gradually. Research shows that children as young as four are able to remember specific problems they have seen through observation and prepare for future solutions.
Measurement methods
For studies of mental time travel, both episodic memory and episodic prediction need to be measured simultaneously. Many studies have assessed episodic memory by asking people to recall past events; however, the validity of memory measures remains controversial. For future predictions, there are also some scales that have been adapted to measure episodic memory.
"The challenge with these studies is how to verify the accuracy of people's memories relative to actual events."
There is an ongoing conversation in psychology about how we travel between the past and the future in our minds, which is not only a way to understand ourselves and others, but also a reflection on our own positioning and the meaning of existence. Have you ever experienced this feeling of time travel in your own life?
