The development of episodic foresight: emerging concepts and methods.

Judith A Hudson, Estelle M Y Mayhew, Janani Prabhakar

Journal: Advances in child development and behavior 2011;40():95-137

PMID: 21887960

Abstract

Episodic foresight is here defined as the ability to project oneself into the future and mentally simulate situations and outcomes. Tasks used to study the development of episodic foresight in young children are reviewed and compared to tasks used to study other future-oriented abilities (planning, delay of gratification, and prospective memory) in the same age-group. We argue for the importance of accounting for and minimizing the role of other cognitive demands in research tasks. Because episodic foresight is an emerging ability in young children, more research needs to be directed at the contexts in which it emerges and the extent to which episodic foresight is part of a growing ability for mental representation.

Address: Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.

DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-386491-8.00003-7

MeSH Terms: Adult, Child, Child, Preschool, Concept Formation, Decision Making, Goals, Humans, Imagination, Infant, Intention, Internal-External Control, Judgment, Life Change Events, Mental Recall, Motivation, Parenting