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Garcia Jimenez C, D'Argembeau A. Goal characteristics predict the occurrence of goal-related events through belief in future occurrence. Conscious Cogn 2024; 119:103649. [PMID: 38324924 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2024.103649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 01/21/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
While previous studies have highlighted the role of episodic future thinking in goal pursuit, the underlying cognitive mechanisms remain unexplored. Episodic future thinking may promote goal pursuit by shaping the feeling that imagined events will (or will not) happen in the future - referred to as belief in future occurrence. We investigated whether goal self-concordance (Experiment 1) and other goal characteristics identified as influential in goal pursuit (Experiment 2) modulate belief in the future occurrence of goal-related events and predict the actual occurrence of these events. Results showed that goal self-concordance, engagement, and expectancy had an indirect effect on the actual occurrence of events, which was (partially) mediated by belief in future occurrence. The mediating role of belief supports the view that belief in future occurrence when imagining events conveys useful information, allowing us to make informed decisions and undertake adaptive actions in the process of goal pursuit.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Arnaud D'Argembeau
- Psychology and Neuroscience of Cognition Research Unit, University of Liège, Belgium
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2
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Finch EF, Kalinowski SE, Hooley JM, Schacter DL. Grandiose narcissism influences the phenomenology of remembered past and imagined future events. Memory 2024; 32:25-40. [PMID: 37930782 PMCID: PMC10843788 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2023.2274807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023]
Abstract
Little empirical work has examined future thinking in narcissistic grandiosity. We here extend prior work finding that people scoring high in grandiosity have self-bolstering tendencies in remembering past events, and we consider whether these tendencies extend to imagining future events. Across an initial study (N = 112) and replication (N = 169), participants wrote about remembered past events and imagined future events in which they embodied or would embody either positive or negative traits. Participants then rated those events on several subjective measures. We find that people scoring higher in grandiosity remember past events in which they embody positive traits with greater detail and ease than past events in which they embody negative traits. These same effects persist when people scoring high in grandiosity imagine possible events in their future. Those scoring higher in grandiosity endorse thinking about positive events in their past and future more frequently than negative events, and they judge positive future events as more plausible than negative future events. These tendencies did not extend to objective detail provided in their written narratives about these events. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that grandiosity is associated with self-bolstering tendencies in both remembering the past and imagining the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen F Finch
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Jill M Hooley
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Hinault T, D'Argembeau A, Bowler DM, La Corte V, Desaunay P, Provasi J, Platel H, Tran The J, Charretier L, Giersch A, Droit-Volet S. Time processing in neurological and psychiatric conditions. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 154:105430. [PMID: 37871780 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Revised: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
A central question in understanding cognition and pathology-related cognitive changes is how we process time. However, time processing difficulties across several neurological and psychiatric conditions remain seldom investigated. The aim of this review is to develop a unifying taxonomy of time processing, and a neuropsychological perspective on temporal difficulties. Four main temporal judgments are discussed: duration processing, simultaneity and synchrony, passage of time, and mental time travel. We present an integrated theoretical framework of timing difficulties across psychiatric and neurological conditions based on selected patient populations. This framework provides new mechanistic insights on both (a) the processes involved in each temporal judgement, and (b) temporal difficulties across pathologies. By identifying underlying transdiagnostic time-processing mechanisms, this framework opens fruitful avenues for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Hinault
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, 14032 Caen, France.
| | - Arnaud D'Argembeau
- Psychology and Neuroscience of Cognition Research Unit, University of Liège, F.R.S-FNRS, 4000 Liège, Belgium
| | - Dermot M Bowler
- Autism Research Group, City, University of London, EC1V 0HB London, United Kingdom
| | - Valentina La Corte
- Laboratoire Mémoire, Cerveau et Cognition (MC2Lab), UR 7536, Université de Paris cité, 92774 Boulogne-Billancourt, France; Institut Universitaire de France, 75231 Paris, France
| | - Pierre Desaunay
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, 14032 Caen, France; Service de Psychiatrie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent, CHU de Caen, 14000 Caen, France
| | - Joelle Provasi
- CHArt laboratory (Human and Artificial Cognition), EPHE-PSL, 75014 Paris, France
| | - Hervé Platel
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, 14032 Caen, France
| | - Jessica Tran The
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, 14032 Caen, France
| | - Laura Charretier
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, 14032 Caen, France
| | - Anne Giersch
- Cognitive Neuropsychology and Pathophysiology of Schizophrenia Laboratory, National Institute of Health and Medical Research, University of Strasbourg, 67081 Strasbourg, France
| | - Sylvie Droit-Volet
- Université Clermont Auvergne, LAPSCO, CNRS, UMR 6024, 60032 Clermont-Ferrand, France
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Branch JG. Individual differences in the frequency of voluntary & involuntary episodic memories, future thoughts, and counterfactual thoughts. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2023; 87:2171-2182. [PMID: 36781455 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-023-01802-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 02/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2023]
Abstract
Voluntary and involuntary mental time travel can take the form of episodic memory, episodic future thinking, and episodic counterfactual thinking. This study uses an individual-differences approach to understand why people engage in these forms of mental time travel. The individual-differences variables include trait-level personality, boredom proneness, depression, anxiety, stress, emotion regulation, mindfulness, mind-wandering, positive and negative affect, rumination, optimism, thinking styles, and time perspective. Across two studies, our results indicate that individual differences underlie these forms of mental time travel. The most unique, episodic counterfactual thinking, was alone positively correlated with negative emotionality and negatively correlated with optimism. We also observe differences as a function of voluntariness and discuss these findings in relation to the cognitively demanding nature of constructing future and counterfactual thoughts. We discuss the importance of distinguishing voluntary from involuntary thinking and assessing episodic counterfactual thinking in relation to episodic memory and episodic future thinking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared G Branch
- School of Psychology & Cognitive Science, Avila University, Kansas, MO, 64145, USA.
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Noël X, Saeremans M, Kornreich C, Chatard A, Jaafari N, D'Argembeau A. Reduced calibration between subjective and objective measures of episodic future thinking in alcohol use disorder. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2022; 46:300-311. [PMID: 35181906 DOI: 10.1111/acer.14763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2021] [Revised: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND A reduced capacity to mentally simulate future scenarios could be of clinical importance in alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying episodic future thinking (EFT) impairment in AUD. METHODS We tested patients with severe AUD using two measures of EFT: the individual's own subjective experience of their imaginings (phenomenology) and the objective number of details included in imagined events, as assessed by an independent observer (examination). The comparison between the two measures allowed us to investigate the extent to which the subjective and objective characteristics of EFT are calibrated in healthy and AUD participants matched for age, education, and gender. The possible impact of cognitive functioning and disturbed mood on EFT measures was also investigated. RESULTS In terms of objective details of EFT, patients with AUD (n = 40) generated fewer episodic components and more non-episodic components than control participants (n = 40), even when controlling for cognitive functioning. However, self-ratings of phenomenological characteristics indicated that participants with AUD perceived imagined future events at a similar level of detail as control participants. Additionally, there was a significant correlation between objective and subjective measures in healthy individuals but not in the AUD group. A higher depression score in the AUD group was not associated with the EFT measures. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest a distorted self-assessment of the richness of imagined future events in individuals with AUD. We discuss these apparent limitations in metacognitive abilities and verbal descriptions of imagined events among individuals with AUD and their clinical implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xavier Noël
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Médicale et d'Addictologie, ULB Neuroscience Institute (UNI), CHU Brugmann-Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Mélanie Saeremans
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Médicale et d'Addictologie (ULB), Brugmann University Hospital, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Charles Kornreich
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Médicale et d'Addictologie, ULB Neuroscience Institute (UNI), CHU Brugmann-Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Brussels, Belgium.,Laboratoire de Psychologie Médicale et d'Addictologie (ULB), Brugmann University Hospital, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Armand Chatard
- UMR-7295 CNRS, Faculté de Psychologie, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Nemet Jaafari
- Unité de Recherche Clinique Pierre Deniker du Centre Hospitalier Henri Laborit, INSERM CIC-P 1402, Poitiers, France.,INSERM U 1084 Laboratoire Expérimental et Clinique en Neurosciences, University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Arnaud D'Argembeau
- Unité de Recherche en Psychologie et Neuroscience Cognitives, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium
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Landkroon E, van Dis EAM, Meyerbröker K, Salemink E, Hagenaars MA, Engelhard IM. Future-Oriented Positive Mental Imagery Reduces Anxiety for Exposure to Public Speaking. Behav Ther 2022; 53:80-91. [PMID: 35027160 DOI: 10.1016/j.beth.2021.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2021] [Revised: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Exposure therapy is the recommended treatment for anxiety disorders, but many anxious individuals are unwilling to expose themselves to feared situations. Episodic simulation of future situations contributes to adaptive emotion regulation and motivates behavior. This study investigated whether future-oriented positive mental imagery reduces anticipatory anxiety and distress during exposure, and increases exposure willingness and duration. Forty-three individuals with moderate public speaking anxiety were randomized to a standardized positive mental imagery exercise about future public speaking or no-task. All participants were then asked to present in a virtual reality environment. Anticipatory anxiety reduced in the positive mental imagery group, but not in the control group. Additionally, the positive mental imagery group reported lower distress during exposure than the control group, but groups did not differ in exposure willingness. Due to limited variance, effects on exposure duration could not be tested. Future-oriented positive mental imagery is promising to prepare individuals for exposure to previously avoided situations.
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Memory, Future Thinking, and the Self. In Honour of Martial Van Der Linden. Psychol Belg 2021; 61:274-283. [PMID: 34611494 PMCID: PMC8447971 DOI: 10.5334/pb.1074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Over the past 20 years, much progress has been made in understanding the relations between memory and future thinking, and their role in shaping our sense of self and identity. My own interest in these research questions owes much to Martial Van der Linden, with whom I had the chance to interact closely for several years. The purpose of this article is to pay tribute to him by reviewing the work we initiated together on autobiographical memory and future-oriented thinking. I first review our early work on the relationship between memory and future thinking and discuss their role in self-representation. Then, I provide an overview of the underlying neural bases and describe the alterations of autobiographical thinking that characterize certain psychological disorders. Finally, I outline an integrative framework that I recently proposed to account for the cognitive structure of past and future autobiographical thinking.
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Pertz M, Kowalski T, Schlegel U, Thoma P. Mental time travel in patients "cured" from primary central nervous system lymphoma. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 2021; 43:264-275. [PMID: 33881382 DOI: 10.1080/13803395.2021.1912299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Introduction: Significant advances in neuro-oncological treatment led to considering neurocognitive functioning and everyday functional needs in patients with long-term survival. Since a potentially lethal disease interrupts normal life and represents a threat to physical and psychological integrity, patients have to cope with the new challenges. Long-term survival and even "cure" is possible in primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL), however, suffering from a life-threatening disease may affect patients´ cognitive processing of past and future (i.e., the generation of personal past memories and generation of personal future events). Therefore, the present study aimed to assess how PCNSL long-term survivors remember their past and anticipate their future.Methods: Recall of past and anticipation of future events (i.e., mental time travel), both positive and negative, was assessed in 39 PCNSL patients with ongoing complete remission to therapy for at least 1 year in an adapted verbal fluency paradigm. A group of 39 healthy controls matched for age, gender and education was assessed with the same paradigm evaluating retrospective and prospective cognitions.Results: Concerning the generation of personal future events PCNSL patients anticipated significantly fewer negative events for the distant future as compared to healthy controls. At trend level, patients also reported fewer negative events regarding their recent past.Conclusions: The results provide support for an altered generation of personal future events (i.e., future-directed assumptions) in PCNSL patients with ongoing complete remission. Being "cured" after experiencing a threat to life might induce cognitive reappraisal processes and lead people to reexamine their priorities and principles in life, resulting in a less negative evaluation of (future) life (i.e., "optimism bias") after facing death. Clinicians should be aware of these possible cognitive and affective processes and of chronic psychological disturbances in cancer survivors. Possible adaptive strategies ought to be promoted in supportive (neuro)psychological therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milena Pertz
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Knappschaftskrankenhaus, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Thomas Kowalski
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Knappschaftskrankenhaus, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Uwe Schlegel
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Knappschaftskrankenhaus, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Patrizia Thoma
- Neuropsychological Therapy Centre (NTC)/Clinical Neuropsychology, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
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