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Schemas are mental representations of common structures of our experience, and they are centrally important to human thinking and memory. Recently, it has been proposed that schemas also play an important role in structuring our imagination of the future. However, tools for automatically measuring the schematic content of written and spoken event narratives are underdeveloped. Here, we report a preliminary investigation into a set of metrics that may differentiate between more and less schematic narratives. Across two experiments, we find that written and spoken narratives that are schema-congruent are more associative, in that they contain words that are more strongly psychologically associated with one another. We discuss how this finding might contribute to the development of tools to automatically measure schematicity in future narratives.

Tulving's concept of mental time travel (MTT), and the related distinction of episodic and semantic memory, have been highly influential contributions to memory research, resulting in a wealth of findings and a deeper understanding of the neurocognitive correlates of memory and future thinking. Many models have conceptualized episodic and semantic representations as existing on a continuum that can help to account for various hybrid forms. Nevertheless, in most theories, MTT remains distinctly associated with episodic representations. In this article, we review existing models of memory and future thinking, and critically evaluate whether episodic representations are distinct from other types of explicit representations, including whether MTT as a neurocognitive capacity is uniquely episodic. We conclude by proposing a new framework, the Multidimensional Model of Mental Representations (MMMR), which can parsimoniously account for the range of past, present and future representations the human mind is capable of creating. This article is part of the theme issue 'Elements of episodic memory: lessons from 40 years of research'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Vaccine hesitancy and resistance pose significant threats to controlling pandemics and preventing infectious diseases. In a group of individuals unvaccinated against the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (COVID-19), we investigated how age, intolerance of uncertainty (IU), and their interaction affected the likelihood of having changed one's vaccination decision a year later. We hypothesized that higher IU would increase the likelihood of becoming vaccinated, particularly among individuals of younger age. We predicted that this effect would remain significant, even after controlling for delay discounting and trust in science. Purpose The goal of this research was to understand the factors influencing changes in vaccination decisions among the vaccine hesitant. Methods In a larger longitudinal study, ~7,500 participants from Prolific.co completed demographic and vaccination status questions, a delay discounting task, and the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale in June–August 2021. Approximately 3,200 participants completed a follow-up survey in July–August 2022, answering questions about vaccination status, reasons for vaccination decision, and trust in science. We analyzed data from 251 participants who initially had no intention of getting vaccinated and completed the follow-up survey; 38% reported becoming vaccinated in the intervening year. Results Data were analyzed using multilevel logistic regression. Over and above other factors related to vaccination decisions (delay discounting, trust in science), younger participants were more likely to change their decision and become vaccinated a year later, especially if they had higher IU, confirming our predictions. Primary reasons for becoming vaccinated were necessity and seeking protection against the virus. Conclusions These findings highlight the complex interplay between age, uncertainty, and vaccination decisions, and inform health policies by suggesting the need for tailoring interventions to specific concerns in different age groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BOLD signal variability (SDBOLD) has emerged as a unique measure of the adaptive properties of neural systems that facilitate fast, stable responding, based on claims that SDBOLD is independent of mean BOLD signal (meanBOLD) and is a powerful predictor of behavioral performance. We challenge these two claims. First, the apparent independence of SDBOLD and meanBOLD may reflect the presence of deactivations; we hypothesize that although SDBOLD may not be related to raw meanBOLD, it will be linearly related to "absolute" meanBOLD. Second, the observed relationship between SDBOLD and performance may be an artifact of using fixed-length trials longer than RTs. Such designs provide opportunities to toggle between on- and off-task states, and fast responders likely engage in more frequent state-switching, thereby artificially elevating SDBOLD. We hypothesize that SDBOLD will be higher and more strongly related to performance when using such fixed-length trials relative to self-paced trials that terminate upon a response. We test these two hypotheses in an fMRI study using blocks of fixed-length or self-paced trials. Results confirmed both hypotheses: (1) SDBOLD was robustly related with absolute meanBOLD, and (2) toggling between on- and off-task states during fixed-length trials reliably contributed to SDBOLD. Together, these findings suggest that a reappraisal of the functional significance of SDBOLD as a unique marker of cognitive performance is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on differences between remembering the past and imagining the future have led to the hypothesis that constructing future events is a more cognitively demanding process. However, factors that influence these increased demands, such as whether the event has been previously constructed and the types of details comprising the event, have remained relatively unexplored. Across two experiments, we examined how these factors influence the process of constructing event representations by having participants repeatedly construct events and measuring how construction times and a range of phenomenological ratings changed across time points. In Experiment 1, we contrasted the construction of past and future events and found that, relative to past events, the constructive demands associated with future events are particularly heightened when these events are imagined for the first time. Across repeated simulations, future events became increasingly similar to past events in terms of construction times and incorporated detail. In Experiment 2, participants imagined future events involving two memory details (person, location) and then reimagined the event either (a) exactly the same, (b) with a different person, or (c) in a different location. We predicted that if generating spatial information is particularly important for event construction, a change in location will have the greatest impact on constructive demands. Results showed that spatial context contributed to these heightened constructive demands more so than person details, consistent with theories highlighting the central role of spatial processing in episodic simulation. We discuss the findings from both studies in the light of relational processing demands and consider implications for current theoretical frameworks.

Previous work has found mentally simulating events of helping others can enhance prosocial intentions. However, to date, this "prosocial simulation effect" (PSE) has only been demonstrated in North America. We provide the first preregistered replication of PSE outside of North America in a New Zealand sample, following existing protocols (Experiment 1: N = 40) and with modifications to rule out an additional confound (Experiment 2: N = 40). Moreover, given evidence that metric models are problematic for assessing ordinal data, we conducted cumulative link model (CLM)-based analyses. Both experiments provide statistically robust support for the PSE outside of North America, lending greater credence to this effect. We also show that, relative to CLM-based analyses, metric models can underestimate effects in ordinal data, yielding inconsistent results across near-identical experimental designs. We consider this issue against the backdrop of the replication crisis and recommend the use of CLM-based analyses in all research reliant on ordinal scales. General Audience Summary: Can imagination increase intentions to help others? Recent evidence suggests it can act to increase one's willingness to help a stranger in need. Thus, imagination could be a key tool for increasing prosocial intentions in people across the globe. However, existing studies demonstrating this effect are primarily from the United States, so it remains unknown whether imagination has the same effect on prosocial intentions across nations and cultures. This is critical because, even within Western countries, baseline levels of prosociality vary, with the United States being at one extreme. We conducted the first preregistered examination of this effect outside of North America with participants from New Zealand. Furthermore, we used statistical approaches more appropriate for the type of data collected in these studies. Across two experiments, we demonstrate that the enhancing effect of imagination on prosocial intentions is statistically robust and evident cross-nationally. Future work is needed to translate these findings to real-world contexts to increase cooperation as modern society deals with significant global challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older age is reportedly protective against the detrimental psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, consistent with the theory that reduced future time extension (FTE) leads to prioritization of socioemotional well-being. We investigated whether depression severity and pandemic-related factors (regional severity, threat, social isolation) reduce FTE beyond chronological age and whether these relationships differ between younger and older adults. In May 2020, we recruited 248 adults (younger: 18–43 years, older: 55–80 years) from 13 industrialized nations. Multigroup path analysis found that depression severity was a better predictor of FTE than the reverse association in both age groups, suggesting an affective foreshortening of future time. In both age groups, older age was protective against depression severity, and younger age was associated with heightened vulnerability to the negative impacts of pandemic-related factors. Future research should consider the complex interrelationships between FTE, age, and depression severity and the potential impacts of the broader psychosocial milieu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New Zealand Genetic Frontotemporal Dementia Study (FTDGeNZ) is an emerging longitudinal study of a large New Zealand pedigree with genetic frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Natural history studies of genetic FTD cohorts provide a unique opportunity to identify biomarkers of pre-symptomatic dementia, as carriers can be identified and studied decades before expected symptom onset. FTDGeNZ was established in 2016 with the aim of identifying the earliest pre-symptomatic biomarkers of FTD, in collaboration with international multi-centre cohorts. We enrolled 25 participants from a single family between April 2016 and August 2018. Participants were genotyped to determine whether they were pre-symptomatic carriers of the mutation (MAPT IVS 10 + 16 C > T), or non-carrier controls. Participants have undergone clinical assessments including neuropsychological and mood assessment; olfactory testing; assessment of social cognition; and blood collection for analyses of microRNA and protein fluid biomarkers annually. We have also performed structural and functional MRI of the brain and assessment of autobiographical memory biennially, and retinal imaging at baseline. Here, we describe the full study protocol and the baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of the FTDGeNZ cohort, and we highlight the latest findings in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]