Imagining the future, remembering the past: Future events were simulated at proportionally higher speed than past events; the density of experience units representing the unfolding of events was lower for future episodes

The temporal compression of events during episodic future thinking. Olivier Jeunehomme, Nathan Leroy, Arnaud D'Argembeau. Cognition, August 6 2020, 104416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104416

Highlights
• The unfolding of real-world events is temporally compressed in future simulations.
• Compression rates are higher for future than past events.
• Compression rates are lower for actions than spatial displacements.
• Temporal compression depends on the density of represented experience units.
• Experience units serve as an index for estimating past and future event durations.

Abstract: While the cognitive and neural mechanisms that underlie episodic future thinking are increasingly well understood, little is known about how the temporal unfolding of events is represented in future simulations. In this study, we leveraged wearable camera technology to examine whether real-world events are structured and compressed in the same way when imagining the future as when remembering the past. We found that future events were simulated at proportionally higher speed than past events and that the density of experience units representing the unfolding of events was lower for future than for past episodes. Despite these differences, the nature of events influenced compression rates in the same way for past and future events. Furthermore, the perceived duration of both types of events depended on the density of represented experience units. These results provide novel insight into the mechanisms that structure the unfolding of events during future simulations.

Keywords: Episodic memoryEpisodic future thinkingTemporal compressionTime estimationWearable camera