Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T15:10:05.509Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

How developmental science contributes to theories of future thinking

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2007

Cristina M. Atance  and
Andrew N. Meltzoff
Cristina M. Atance
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, K1 N 6N5, Canadaatance@uottawa.cahttp://www.sciencessociales.uottawa.ca/ccll/
Andrew N. Meltzoff
Affiliation:
Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195. meltzoff@u.washington.eduhttp://ilabs.washington.edu/meltzoff/
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Acting in the present in anticipation of the future is argued to be a behavioral correlate of mental time travel (MTT). Yet, it is important to consider how other future-directed behaviors – including planning, delay of gratification, and acts of prospective memory – figure into a theory of MTT and future thinking more broadly. Developmental science can help in this formulation.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , June 2007 , pp. 314 - 315
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Atance, C. M. & Meltzoff, A. N. (2005) My future self: Young children's ability to anticipate and explain future states. Cognitive Development 20:341–61.Google Scholar
Atance, C. M. & Meltzoff, A. N. (2006) Preschoolers' current desires warp their choices for the future. Psychological Science 17(7):583–87.Google Scholar
Gilbert, D. T., Gill, M. J. & Wilson, T. D. (2002) The future is now: Temporal correction in affective forecasting. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 88:430–44.Google Scholar
Suddendorf, T. & Busby, J. (2005) Making decisions with the future in mind: Developmental and comparative identification of mental time travel. Learning and Motivation 36(2):110–25.Google Scholar