scholarly journals Changing the Future: An Initial Test of Future Specificity Training (FeST)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David John Hallford ◽  
Joseph Yeow ◽  
Grace Fountas ◽  
Caitlyn Herrick ◽  
Filip Raes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Control ◽  
Training Group ◽  
Wait List ◽  
Episodic Future Thinking ◽  
Initial Test ◽  
Future Thinking ◽  
Sustained Improvement ◽  
Future Events ◽  
Study Participants

A range of psychiatric disorders are characterised by impairments in episodic future thinking (EFT), and particularly simulating specific, spatiotemporally-located future events. To date, no study has examined whether training can lead to sustained improvement in the specificity of EFT. In this study, participants (N=60; M age=31, SD=13.2) were randomized to a two-session, group-based program on future thinking (Future Specificity Training; FeST) or wait-list. At follow-up the training group, relative to the wait-list group, showed large, statistically-significant improvements in the ability to mentally simulate specific EFT (d=.82), as well as increases in detail (d=1.32), use of mental imagery (d=1.32), anticipated (d=1.78) and anticipatory pleasure (d=1.07), perceived control (d=1.20), and likelihood of occurrence (d=1.09). Some effects were also observed on positive, generalised future self-states. This study provides the first evidence that EFT specificity can be enhanced, and the effects of FeST on other variables indicate a possible avenue to disrupt psychopathological processes.

scholarly journals Selective Effects of Focusing on Spatial Details in Episodic Future Thinking for Self-Relevant Positive Events

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David John Hallford ◽  
Samuel Cheung ◽  
Ghofran Baothman ◽  
Jason Weel
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Control ◽  
Episodic Future Thinking ◽  
Future Thinking ◽  
Spatial Simulation ◽  
Positive Events ◽  
Affective Processes ◽  
Scene Construction ◽  
Future Events ◽  
Spatial Condition ◽  
Simulation Condition

Mental simulations of positive future events increase their detail/vividness and plausibility, with effects on cognitive-affective processes such as anticipated and anticipatory pleasure. More recently, spatial details have been distinguished as important in increasing detail and elaborating mental scene construction. Building on this research, this study (N=54; M age=26.9) compared simulations of positive, self-relevant future events spatial details (i.e. people, objects, sequences of actions) with simulations focused on content details. Cross-sectionally at baseline, spatial details uniquely predicted phenomenological characteristics of future events, including anticipatory pleasure. The guided simulations increased detail and vividness, mental imagery, and pre-experiencing in both conditions. The content simulation condition did not increase content details relative to the spatial simulation condition, however, the inverse was true. Relatedly, overall detail and vividness was higher in the spatial condition, as was perceived control. The findings are discussed in relation to future thinking and mental health.

scholarly journals The effect of episodic future thinking on delay discounting

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rebecca Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Delay Discounting ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Episodic Future Thinking ◽  
Future Thinking ◽  
Design Studies ◽  
Indifference Points ◽  
Future Events ◽  
Participant Characteristics

<p>Delay discounting refers to the fact that rewards lose their value if they are delayed. Excessive delay discounting is associated with various health-related problems such as over-eating and substance abuse. One phenomenon shown to reduce delay discounting is Episodic Future Thinking (EFT; imagining personal future events). Across multiple experiments and a meta-analysis, the current thesis examined the reliability of the effect of EFT on delay discounting and also sought to clarify the components of EFT that are necessary to reduce delay discounting.  Experiment 1 replicated the EFT effect using a common titrating-amount procedure, and the meta-analysis based on 40 independent studies confirmed that EFT has a reliable, medium-sized effect on delay discounting. The meta-analysis also assessed the robustness of the EFT effect across various methodological features and participant characteristics. A multiple meta-regression revealed that the between-study variability in the size of the EFT effect was accounted for by study design and type of discounting measure. Within-subjects design studies had significantly smaller effect sizes than between-subjects design studies. Studies that used k as a discounting rate measure had significantly smaller effect sizes than studies that used area under the discounting curve or other atheoretical discounting measures. The size of the EFT effect was robust across different participant characteristics and ages, suggesting that EFT may be utilized as an effective intervention for a variety of age groups and impulsive behaviors.  Experiments 2A, 2B and 2C assessed the suitability of an alternative and briefer delay discounting procedure (in which participants simply report their indifference points) for subsequent EFT experiments. The report indifference points procedure produced a high percentage of invalid data, a finding that was replicated across all three experiments. We therefore continued to use the well-established titrating-amount procedure in subsequent studies.  Experiment 3A found that episodic past thinking (imagining personal past events) and semantic future thinking (estimating what a person could buy with the larger, delayed amount) had no effect on discounting, indicating that both episodic thinking and future thinking are necessary components of the EFT effect. Experiment 3A results also indicated that financial relevance alone is not sufficient to reducing discounting. Experiment 3B found that the future events also need to be personally relevant to reduce discounting, and that participants perceived EFT to reduce their discounting by primarily making the larger, delayed reward more valuable. We also showed that demand characteristics, where participants change their behavior to conform to the researcher’s expectations, are an unlikely explanation for the EFT effects found in Experiments 3A and 3B. Further research is warranted to form a better understanding of the mechanism(s) through which EFT reduces delay discounting.</p>

scholarly journals The effect of episodic future thinking on delay discounting

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rebecca Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Delay Discounting ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Episodic Future Thinking ◽  
Future Thinking ◽  
Design Studies ◽  
Indifference Points ◽  
Future Events ◽  
Participant Characteristics

<p>Delay discounting refers to the fact that rewards lose their value if they are delayed. Excessive delay discounting is associated with various health-related problems such as over-eating and substance abuse. One phenomenon shown to reduce delay discounting is Episodic Future Thinking (EFT; imagining personal future events). Across multiple experiments and a meta-analysis, the current thesis examined the reliability of the effect of EFT on delay discounting and also sought to clarify the components of EFT that are necessary to reduce delay discounting.  Experiment 1 replicated the EFT effect using a common titrating-amount procedure, and the meta-analysis based on 40 independent studies confirmed that EFT has a reliable, medium-sized effect on delay discounting. The meta-analysis also assessed the robustness of the EFT effect across various methodological features and participant characteristics. A multiple meta-regression revealed that the between-study variability in the size of the EFT effect was accounted for by study design and type of discounting measure. Within-subjects design studies had significantly smaller effect sizes than between-subjects design studies. Studies that used k as a discounting rate measure had significantly smaller effect sizes than studies that used area under the discounting curve or other atheoretical discounting measures. The size of the EFT effect was robust across different participant characteristics and ages, suggesting that EFT may be utilized as an effective intervention for a variety of age groups and impulsive behaviors.  Experiments 2A, 2B and 2C assessed the suitability of an alternative and briefer delay discounting procedure (in which participants simply report their indifference points) for subsequent EFT experiments. The report indifference points procedure produced a high percentage of invalid data, a finding that was replicated across all three experiments. We therefore continued to use the well-established titrating-amount procedure in subsequent studies.  Experiment 3A found that episodic past thinking (imagining personal past events) and semantic future thinking (estimating what a person could buy with the larger, delayed amount) had no effect on discounting, indicating that both episodic thinking and future thinking are necessary components of the EFT effect. Experiment 3A results also indicated that financial relevance alone is not sufficient to reducing discounting. Experiment 3B found that the future events also need to be personally relevant to reduce discounting, and that participants perceived EFT to reduce their discounting by primarily making the larger, delayed reward more valuable. We also showed that demand characteristics, where participants change their behavior to conform to the researcher’s expectations, are an unlikely explanation for the EFT effects found in Experiments 3A and 3B. Further research is warranted to form a better understanding of the mechanism(s) through which EFT reduces delay discounting.</p>

Manipulating the Valence of Future Thought: The Effect on Affect

2020 ◽  
pp. 003329411990034
Author(s):  
Janie Busby Grant ◽  
Neil Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Positive Affect ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Episodic Future Thinking ◽  
Future Thinking ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Online Study ◽  
Future Events ◽  
Future Thought

Imagining personal future events is associated with well-being, but the nature and direction of this relationship are unclear. This study investigated whether imagining episodic future scenarios, experimentally manipulated for valence, have an immediate impact on affect. University students ( N =  197) completed a 2 × 3 between-subject online study in which they imagined four personal events likely to occur in the future. Participants were directed to imagine positive or negative events or were undirected as to valence to additionally assess the valence and effect of self-directed imagined scenarios. Participants in all three conditions reported a change in positive affect immediately after the task, with both positive and nondirected thinking improving positive affect and negative future thoughts reducing it. However, negative affect only shifted in response to negative future thinking but not the other conditions. These findings demonstrate that there is an immediate causal effect of episodic future thinking on affect but only in specific directions and that this differs from the patterns shown in longer term measurements. The findings also suggest when self-directed that imagined future thoughts tend to mirror the valence and causal effect of positively induced thoughts. This study has implications for the ongoing debate around future thinking and well-being.

scholarly journals The remembering–imagining system

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin A Conway ◽  
Catherine Loveday ◽  
Scott N Cole
Keyword(s):  
Brain Damage ◽  
Episodic Future Thinking ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Future Thinking ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Events ◽  
Episodic Memories ◽  
Images Of The Future ◽  
Near Future

Remembering and imagining are intricately related, particularly in imagining the future: episodic future thinking. It is proposed that remembering the recent past and imagining the near future take place in what we term the remembering–imagining system. The remembering–imagining system renders recently formed episodic memories and episodic imagined near-future events highly accessible. We suggest that this serves the purpose of integrating past, current, and future goal-related activities. When the remembering–imagining system is compromised, following brain damage and in psychological illnesses, the future cannot be effectively imagined and episodic future thinking may become dominated by dysfunctional images of the future.

Using Episodic Future Thinking to Pre-Experience Climate Change Increases Pro-Environmental Behavior

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pei-Shan Lee ◽  
Yu-Hsien Sung ◽  
Chia-Chun Wu ◽  
Liang-Chu Ho ◽  
Wen-Bin Chiou
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Environmental Behavior ◽  
Willingness To Participate ◽  
Episodic Future Thinking ◽  
Future Thinking ◽  
Conditioning Experiment ◽  
Related Risk ◽  
Future Events

Research has found that many people view climate change as a psychologically distant, future threat, which leads them to be less motivated to engage in pro-environmental behavior. Engaging in episodic future thinking (EFT; projecting the self into the future to pre-experience future events) may facilitate the perception of future events as psychologically close, thereby increasing the perceived risk associated with those events. Therefore, engagement in EFT regarding climate change–related risks should induce higher risk perceptions and lead to acting pro-environmentally. In two experiments, we demonstrated that engaging in EFT to pre-experience climate change–related risk events was associated with a higher level of risk perception and a greater tendency toward pro-environmental behavior, including energy-saving use of air-conditioning (Experiment 1), willingness to participate in beach cleaning (Experiment 2), and choice of a meal with lower environmental impact (Experiment 2). The current research provides experimental evidence for an innovative approach to improving public engagement with climate change.

scholarly journals Mix and Match: An Investigation into Whether Episodic Future Thinking Cues Need to Match Discounting Delays in Order to Be Effective

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara O’Donnell ◽  
Kelseanna Hollis-Hansen ◽  
Leonard Epstein
Keyword(s):  
Delay Discounting ◽  
Time Delays ◽  
Episodic Future Thinking ◽  
Future Thinking ◽  
Future Event ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Temporal Perspective ◽  
Future Events ◽  
Mix And Match

Episodic future thinking (EFT), or prospectively imagining yourself in the future, has been developed into an intervention tool to reduce delay discounting (DD), or the preference for smaller immediate over larger future rewards, and to make healthier choices that promote long-term health rather than short-term enjoyment. Most EFT interventions use EFT cues whose future events match the time delays of the DD task, which may limit the utility of EFT. The current study (N = 160, Mage = 35.25, 47.5% female) used a 2 × 2 factorial design with type of episodic thinking (matched, unmatched) and temporal perspective (EFT, episodic recent thinking (ERT)) as between-subject factors to investigate whether there were differences in DD for groups that had EFT cues matched to the time delays of the DD task in comparison to cues with unmatched temporal delays. The results showed EFT reduced DD compared to ERT controls, and no differences emerged between matched and unmatched EFT groups. Our findings suggest that either the process of generating EFT cues or the use of any positive and vivid future event, regardless of whether it is matched to the DD task, can reduce DD.

scholarly journals Impairments in Episodic Future Thinking for Positive Events and Anticipatory Pleasure in Major Depression

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David John Hallford ◽  
Tom Joseph Barry ◽  
David W. Austin ◽  
Filip Raes ◽  
Keisuke Takano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Imagery ◽  
Lower State ◽  
Episodic Future Thinking ◽  
Future Thinking ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Depressed Group ◽  
Future Events ◽  
Cardinal Symptom ◽  
Depressive Episodes ◽  
Consummatory Pleasure

Background: Characteristic of the cardinal symptom of anhedonia, people with clinical depression report lower levels of anticipatory pleasure. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying these deficits are poorly understood. This is the first study to assess whether, and to what extent, phenomenological characteristics of episodic future thinking for positive future events are associated with anticipatory pleasure among depressed individuals. Methods: Individuals with a Major Depressive Episode (MDE; N = 117) and without (N = 47) completed ratings scales for depressive symptoms and trait anticipatory and consummatory pleasure. They then provided descriptions of personally-relevant positive future events and rated them for phenomenological characteristics and state anticipatory pleasure.Results: Between-groups analysis showed that those with MDE reported lower trait anticipatory and consummatory pleasure. They also simulated future events with less specificity, less detail/vividness, less use of mental imagery, less use of first-person perspective, less plausibility/perceived likelihood of occurring, and reported less associated state anticipatory pleasure. In regression analyses in the depressed group, lower scores for detail/vividness, mental imagery, and personal significance all uniquely predicted lower state anticipatory pleasure. Limitations: Cognitive functioning was not assessed, which may help clarify deficits that underpin these findings. History of previous depressive episodes in the comparison group were not assessed, which may underestimate between-group effects.Conclusions: This study provides further evidence of deficits in anticipatory pleasure and episodic future thinking in depressed individuals. It also establishes links between state anticipatory pleasure and particular characteristics of episodic future thinking that may be amenable to intervention to reduce anhedonia.

scholarly journals Imagining Emotional Events Benefits Future-Oriented Decisions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Palombo ◽  
Christopher R Madan
Keyword(s):  
Delay Discounting ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Episodic Future Thinking ◽  
Future Thinking ◽  
Online Study ◽  
Baseline Task ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Events ◽  
Emotional Events

How does imagining future events – whether positive or negative – influence our choices in the present? Prior work has shown the simulation of hypothetical future events, dubbed episodic future thinking, can alter the propensity to engage in delay discounting (the tendency to devalue future rewards) and does so in a valence specific manner. Some research shows that positive episodic future thinking reduces delay discounting, whereas negative future thinking augments it. However, more recent research indicates that both positive and negative episodic future thinking reduce delay discounting, suggesting an effect of episodic future thinking that is independent of valence (Bulley et al., 2019). In the present study, we sought to replicate and extend these latter findings. Here, participants (N = 604) completed an online study. In the baseline task, participants completed a delay discounting task. In the experimental task, they engaged in episodic future thinking before completing a second delay discounting task. Participants were randomly assigned to engage in either positive, neutral, or negative episodic future thinking. In accordance with Bulley et al., we found that episodic future thinking, regardless of valence, reduced delay discounting. Although episodic future thinking shifted decision-making in all conditions, the effect was stronger when participants engaged in positive episodic future thinking, even after accounting for personal relevance and vividness of imagined events. These findings suggest that episodic future thinking may promote future-oriented choices by contextualizing the future, and this effect is further strengthened when the future is tied to positive emotion.

scholarly journals Psychopathology and Episodic Future Thinking: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Specificity and Episodic Detail

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David John Hallford ◽  
David W. Austin ◽  
Keisuke Takano ◽  
Filip Raes
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Mental Simulation ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Episodic Future Thinking ◽  
Future Thinking ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Future Events

Episodic future thinking (EFT) refers to the mental simulation of possible future events; a crucial mental process in adaptation. Psychiatric disorders are associated with deficits in recalling episodic memory, however, no study has reviewed the empirical literature to assess for similar deficits in EFT. A systematic review comparing psychiatric groups with control groups on the specificity and episodic detail of EFT returned 19 eligible studies. An overall effect of g = -0.84 (95%CI = -1.06, - 0.62, p &lt; .001) indicated individuals with a psychiatric diagnosis have significantly less specific and detailed EFT. Publication bias was not detected, but heterogeneity was. No methodological characteristics were significant moderators. Subgroup analyses showed significant effects for depression (g = -0.79, p &lt; .001, k = 7), bipolar disorder (g = -1.00, p &lt; .001, k = 2), and schizophrenia (g = -1.06, p &lt; .001, k = 6), but not posttraumatic stress disorder (g = -1.04, p = .260, k = 2) or complicated grief (g = -0.41, p = .08, k = 2). Deficits in EFT are apparent in some psychiatric disorders. However, many clinical groups are understudied, and the causal mechanisms and remediation of these deficits require further research attention.

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