Remembering the past and imagining the future: Identifying and enhancing the contribution of episodic memory
Open accessAbstract
Recent studies have shown that imagining or simulating future events relies on many of the same cognitive and neural processes as remembering past events. According to the constructive episodic simulation hypothesis, such overlap indicates that both remembered past and imagined future events rely heavily on episodic memory: future simulations are built on retrieved details of specific past experiences that are recombined into novel events. An alternative possibility is that commonalities between remembering and imagining reflect the influence of more general, non-episodic factors such as narrative style or communicative goals that shape the expression of both memory and imagination. We consider recent studies that distinguish the contributions of episodic and non-episodic processes in remembering the past and imagining the future by using an episodic specificity induction—brief training in recollecting the details of a past experience—and also extend this approach to the domains of problem solving and creative thinking. We conclude by suggesting that the specificity induction may target a process of event or scene construction that contributes to episodic memory as well as to imagination, problem solving, and creative thinking.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Previous work showed that an episodic specificity induction selectively boosts the number of episodic details on subsequent remembering and future imagining tasks, with no effect on semantic details.
“Previous work had shown that the specificity induction selectively boosts the number of episodic details that participants provide on subsequent tasks that require remembering past experiences and imagining future experiences, while having no effect on the number of semantic details that participants provide on such tasks ([73]; for review, see [74]).”
From Creative Cognition and Brain Network Dynamics (2016) · cites this paper as [74]
Effects of ESI have been extended to other tasks that draw on episodic retrieval and simulation, including social problem solving and divergent creative thinking.
“effects of ESI have also been extended to other tasks that draw on episodic retrieval and simulation, including social problem solving and divergent creative thinking (for discussion, see 38).”
From Episodic Future Thinking: Mechanisms and Functions (2017) · cites this paper as [38]
Several experiments have shown that an episodic specificity induction selectively dissociates the contributions of episodic retrieval to future imagining from non-episodic factors such as semantic retrieval and narrative style.
“several experiments have shown that the ESI selectively dissociates the contributions of episodic retrieval to future imagining from such non-episodic factors as semantic retrieval and narrative style.”
From Episodic Future Thinking: Mechanisms and Functions (2017) · cites this paper as [38]
Receiving an induction focused on episodic details should affect performance on subsequent tasks, like divergent thinking, that may also require filling in an event with specific details as done during the ESI.
“Receiving an induction focused on episodic details should affect performance on subsequent tasks, like divergent thinking, that may also require filling in an event with specific details as done during the ESI (for review, see Schacter and Madore 2016).”
From Neural Mechanisms of Episodic Retrieval Support Divergent Creative Thinking (2019) · cites this paper as Schacter and Madore 2016
Contributions of episodic memory to tasks beyond simple remembering may be explained by an event construction account, and the patterns of data from the current study add novel support for this interpretation.
“We have recently suggested ( Schacter and Madore 2016; Madore et al. 2016b) that contributions of episodic memory to a variety of tasks beyond simple remembering, such as imagining the future, solving means-end problems, and thinking creatively, may be explained by an event construction account in particular, and we think that the patterns of data from the current study add novel support for this”
From Neural Mechanisms of Episodic Retrieval Support Divergent Creative Thinking (2019) · cites this paper as Schacter and Madore 2016
An experimental manipulation that facilitates detailed episodic retrieval and biases a specific retrieval orientation should facilitate performance on subsequent tasks that nominally involve episodic processing for completion, such as divergent thinking.
“we have previously hypothesized (Schacter and Madore 2016) that an experimental manipulation that facilitates detailed episodic retrieval and biases a specific retrieval orientation (Morcom and Rugg 2012) should likewise facilitate performance on subsequent tasks that nominally involve this sort of episodic processing for completion, in this case divergent thinking.”
From Neural Mechanisms of Episodic Retrieval Support Divergent Creative Thinking (2019) · cites this paper as Schacter and Madore 2016
In human cognition, episodic memories play an important role in both recall of the past and planning for the future.
“In human cognition, episodic memories play an important role in both recall of the past as well as planning for the future.”
From Episodic Memory in AI Agents Poses Risks that Should be Studied and Mitigated (2025) · cites this paper as [6]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 70 · Cited by 203
- Authors
- Schacter, D. L., & Madore, K. P.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Schacter, Daniel L
- Venue
- Memory Studies
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2016-06-30
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 245-255
- ISSN
- 1750-6980 (ISSN-L)
- 1750-6999
- PMC
- PMC5289412
- OpenAlex
- W2467239256
- Cited by
- 203
- References
- 70
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 14.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Memory Studies (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r01ag008441-30)
- National Institute on Aging (R01-AG008441, R37AG008441)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH060941)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Keywords
- episodic memory, future simulation, remembering the past, future thinking, recollection, scene construction, problem solving, creative thinking, narrative style, communicative purpose
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
