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A taxonomy of prospection: Introducing an organizational framework for future-oriented cognition
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Prospection—the ability to represent what might happen in the future—is a broad concept that has been used to characterize a wide variety of future-oriented cognitions, including affective forecasting, prospective memory, temporal discounting, episodic simulation, and autobiographical planning. In this article, we propose a taxonomy of prospection to initiate the important and necessary process of teasing apart the various forms of future thinking that constitute the landscape of prospective cognition. The organizational framework that we propose delineates episodic and semantic forms of four modes of future thinking: simulation, prediction, intention, and planning. We show how this framework can be used to draw attention to the ways in which various modes of future thinking interact with one another, generate new questions about prospective cognition, and illuminate our understanding of disorders of future thinking. We conclude by considering basic cognitive processes that give rise to prospective cognitions, cognitive operations and emotional/motivational states relevant to future-oriented cognition, and the possible role of procedural or motor systems in future-oriented behavior.
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“The key cognitive mechanisms are episodic and semantic simulations of future events [128].”
From Impact of Media-Induced Uncertainty on Mental Health: Narrative-Based Perspective. (2025) · cites this paper as [128]
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Toufexis, C., Grant, J. B., van Boxtel, J. J. A., Lewis, A., & Flood, A. P. (2026) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2026.104070 · Cited by 1
Gao, Y., Wang, Y., Huang, Y., Yan, C., Huang, J., Wang, K., Zhaotong, Y., Lui, S. S. Y., Yang, T., & Chan, R. C. K. (2026) · European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.1007/s00406-026-02281-3 · Cited by 1
Episodic and semantic memory contributions to imagination and creativity
Thakral, P. P., Madore, K. P., Gomez, R., & Devitt, A. L. (2026) · Memory · doi:10.1080/09658211.2026.2691565 · Cited by 1
“Linked to both divergent thinking and episodic memory is episodic simulation: the construction of a detailed mental representation of a specific and novel autobiographical future event (Szpunar et al., 2014).”
InfluentialFreedom Is as Freedom Does: Neuropragmatism, Neuroethics, and Free Will
Shook, J. R. (2015) · AJOB Neuroscience · doi:10.1080/21507740.2015.1032388 · Cited by 1
Selected Topics in Prospective Memory
Cohen, A., & Hicks, J. L. (2017) · SpringerBriefs in psychology · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-68990-6_1 · Cited by 1
Dehipawala, S., Shekoyan, V., Kokkinos, D., Taibu, R. N., Tremberger, G., & Cheung, T. C. D. (2024) · doi:10.18260/1-2--36042 · Cited by 1
Aimei, L. I., Che, J., Liu, N., Sun, H., & Zhou, W. (2021) · Advances in Psychological Science · doi:10.3724/sp.j.1042.2021.01521 · Cited by 2
Sallis, H., Smith, G. D., & Munafo, M. R. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108264822.024 · Cited by 1
Metadata
- Authors
- Szpunar, K. K., Spreng, R. N., & Schacter, D. L.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Cornell University (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2014-11-21
- Volume
- 111
- Issue
- 52
- Pages
- 18414-18421
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC4284580
- OpenAlex
- W1999520675
- Cited by
- 539
- References
- 103
- Citations by year
- 2026: 38 · 2025: 55 · 2024: 50 · 2023: 44 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 48 · 2020: 87 · 2019: 41 · 2018: 43 · 2017: 37 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 22
- FWCI
- 3.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r01ag008441-30)
- National Institute on Aging (R01-AG008441, AG 08441, R37AG008441)
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH 60941, R01MH060941)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Psychological and Temporal Perspectives Research
- Keywords
- prospection, future-oriented cognition, episodic simulation, prediction, intention, planning, affective forecasting, prospective memory, delay discounting, procedural systems
- MeSH terms
- Cognition, Humans, Thinking, Memory, Episodic
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