Cited by 413Decision-Making and Behavioral EconomicsMemory Processes and InfluencesEvolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

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Evolutionary economics of mental time travel?

Boyer, Pascal·2008·Trends in Cognitive Sciences

DOI 10.1016/j.tics.2008.03.003

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Abstract

What is the function of our capacity for 'mental time travel'? Evolutionary considerations suggest that vivid memory and imaginative foresight may be crucial cognitive devices for human decision making. Our emotional engagement with past or future events gives them great motivational force, which may counter a natural tendency towards time discounting and impulsive, opportunistic behavior. In this view, whereas simple episodic memory provides us with a store of relevant, case-based information to guide decisions, mental time travel nudges us towards more restrained choices, which in the long term are advantageous, especially so given human dependence on cooperation and coordination.

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Authors: Boyer, P.
Affiliations: Washington University in St. Louis (US)
Corresponding author: Boyer, Pascal
ORCID: Boyer, Pascal
Venue: Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Published: 2008-06
Volume: 12
Issue: 6
Pages: 219-224
ISSN: 1364-6613 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2008.03.003
OpenAlex: W2155578313
Cited by: 413
References: 87
Citations by year: 2026: 12 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 20
FWCI: 2.06
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations: Trends in Cognitive Sciences (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
Keywords: mental time travel, episodic memory, delay discounting, impulsivity, decision-making, emotional engagement, evolutionary psychology, cooperation
MeSH terms: Brain, Cognition, Decision Making, Emotions, Biological Evolution, Humans, Imagination, Memory, Models, Psychological, Neuropsychological Tests, Time Perception

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Evolutionary economics of mental time travel?

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