ABSTRACT
In line with the focus on adaptive functions of memory pioneered by Bjork and colleagues, we have recently begun to examine what we believe to be a key adaptive feature of memory: its role in allowing us to imagine and simulate future events. While researchers have traditionally emphasized elucidating memory’s role in preserving and recovering past events, a rapidly growing number of recent studies have begun to examine how memory is used to build simulations of possible future
events (for reviews, see Buckner & Carroll, 2007; Schacter, Addis, & Buckner, 2007, 2008; Suddendorf & Corballis, 2007; Szpunar, 2010). Using past experience to anticipate possible future happenings should be adaptive, in that it allows individuals to mentally “try out” alternative approaches to an upcoming situation without having to expend the resources necessary to engage in the actual behaviors.
