Work

Divergent thinking and constructing episodic simulations

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Divergent thinking likely plays an important role in simulating autobiographical events. We investigated whether divergent thinking is differentially associated with the ability to construct detailed imagined future and imagined past events as opposed to recalling past events. We also examined whether age differences in divergent thinking might underlie the reduced episodic detail generated by older adults. The richness of episodic detail comprising autobiographical events in young and older adults was assessed using the Autobiographical Interview. Divergent thinking abilities were measured using the Alternative Uses Task. Divergent thinking was significantly associated with the amount of episodic detail for imagined future events. Moreover, while age was significantly associated with imagined episodic detail, this effect was strongly related to age-related changes in episodic retrieval rather than divergent thinking.

Source: Memory

DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2014.985591

Authors: Donna Rose Addis, Ling Pan, Regina Musicaro, Daniel L. Schacter

Institutions: University of Auckland, Harvard University

Language: English

Topic: Memory Processes and Influences

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Mental Health

Awards: G1376484953, G4165973735, AGING MEMORY, Aging Memory, Event-related Neuroimaging of Human Memory Formation