A core brain network has been proposed to underlie a number of different processes, including remembering, prospection, navigation, and theory of mind [Buckner, R. L., & Carroll, D. C. Self-projection and the brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11, 49-57, 2007]. This purported network-medial prefrontal, medial-temporal, and medial and lateral parietal regions-is similar to that observed during default-mode processing and has been argued to represent self-projection [Buckner, R. L., & Carroll, D. C. Self-projection and the brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11, 49-57, 2007] or scene-construction [Hassabis, D., & Maguire, E. A. Deconstructing episodic memory with construction. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11, 299-306, 2007]. To date, no systematic and quantitative demonstration of evidence for this common network has been presented. Using the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) approach, we conducted four separate quantitative meta-analyses of neuroimaging studies on: (a) autobiographical memory, (b) navigation, (c) theory of mind, and (d) default mode. A conjunction analysis between these domains demonstrated a high degree of correspondence. We compared these findings to a separate ALE analysis of prospection studies and found additional correspondence. Across all domains, and consistent with the proposed network, correspondence was found within the medial-temporal lobe, precuneus, posterior cingulate, retrosplenial cortex, and the temporo-parietal junction. Additionally, this study revealed that the core network extends to lateral prefrontal and occipital cortices. Autobiographical memory, prospection, theory of mind, and default mode demonstrated further reliable involvement of the medial prefrontal cortex and lateral temporal cortices. Autobiographical memory and theory of mind, previously studied as distinct, exhibited extensive functional overlap. These findings represent quantitative evidence for a core network underlying a variety of cognitive domains.

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Although neuroimaging and human lesion studies agree that the medial parietal region plays a critical role in episodic memory, many neuroimaging studies have also implicated lateral parietal cortex, leading some researchers to suggest that the lateral region plays a heretofore underappreciated role in episodic memory. Because there are very few extant lesion data on this matter, we examined memory in six cases of focal lateral parietal damage, using both clinical and experimental measures, in which we distinguished between recollection and familiarity. The patients did not have amnesia, but they did show evidence of disrupted recollection on an anterograde memory task. Although the exact mechanisms remain to be elucidated, lateral parietal damage appears to impair some aspects of episodic memory.

"Mental time travel" refers to conscious experience of remembering the personal past and imagining the personal future. Little is known about its neural correlates. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we explored the hypothesis that mental time travel into "nonpresent" times (past and future) is enabled by a special conscious state (chronesthesia). Well-trained subjects repeatedly imagined taking one and the same short walk in a familiar environment, doing so either in the imagined past, present, or future. In an additional condition, they recollected an instance in which they actually performed the same short walk in the same familiar setting. This design allowed us to measure brain activity correlated with "pure" conscious states of different moments of subjective time. The results showed that the left lateral parietal cortex was differentially activated by nonpresent subjective times compared with the present (past and future > present). A similar pattern was observed in the left frontal cortex, cerebellum, and thalamus. There was no evidence that the hippocampal region is involved in subjective time travel. These findings provide support for theoretical ideas concerning chronesthesia and mental time travel.episodic memory | autonoetic consciousness | imagined time | parietal lobule | intraparietal sulcus

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In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, educators had to swiftly and unexpectedly transition their courses from face-to-face to remote instruction. We investigated the experiences of 53 undergraduate Psychology students in New York State during this shift and the ultimate continuation of remote instruction for the rest of the semester. Participants from two different courses completed a five-item guided reflection four times over a span of 8 weeks. They responded to questions about issues such as times of increased and decreased engagement and affirming actions by the course members. We found that students valued active learning and face-to-face interaction as the most engaging aspects of the course, whereas personal circumstances and the sudden transition to remote learning contributed to students' feeling distanced from the course. Students referenced updates, clear communication of instructor expectations, asynchronous instruction, and interactions and cooperation with peers as affirming actions. Our results highlight the importance of instructors' supportive actions and course design to students' learning, which are both within the reach of instructors' control. In addition to providing insight into which aspects of instruction students value most, our findings also have implications for teaching beyond the pandemic in other circumstances that require instructors to quickly and unexpectedly shift the instruction of their courses.

Whether you are an educator or a student, effective time management is critical to achieving success in the formal education system. For educators, the expectation is that a significant amount of curriculum can be covered in a condensed period of time. The goal is to maximize the amount of learning that takes place in the classroom so that students are prepared for the grade level or course that will follow. For students, the expectation is that a range of subject materials will be studied and tested in a short amount of time. This system of learning prioritizes the quantity of knowledge conveyed to students over the quality of students' learningthat is, long-lasting comprehension and retention of the material. In preparation for an upcoming test or exam, teachers and students must decide what material to review and when and how to review it. To maximize the use of limited learning time, it is important to identify learning strategies that will be not only effective but also efficient tools for promoting long-term retention of classroom materials.The field of cognitive psychology offers a wealth of insight on how to enhance knowledge retention. Particularly, researchers have consistently shown the benefit of repetition or reviewing of newly learned information on long-term memory. As explained in the writings of memory researcher Ebbinghaus (1885/1964), "with any considerable number of repetitions a suitable distribution of them over a space of time is decidedly more advantageous than the massing of them at a single time" (p. 89). This phenomenon is called the distributed practice effect or spacing effect, and it refers to the finding that when reviewing previously learned material, distributing or "spacing" a set amount of study time across sessions leads to better memory performance in the long run than "massing" or cramming the same amount of study time into a single session. A typical research design for investigating the spacing effect consists of two study events and one test event. During the first study event, new material is introduced and learned (sometimes to a criterion); during the second study event, the same material is reviewed; and during the test event, the material is tested (Figure 22.1). The time interval between the first and second study events is referred to as the interstudy interval; it can be short/ massed (e.g., immediate or a few seconds later) or long/spaced (e.g., minutes, hours, or days later). The time interval between the last study event and the test event is referred to as the retention interval; it can also be short (e.g., an immediate test or a test in 5 minutes) or long (e.g., a test a month or year away). Therefore, the distributed practice effect can be studied in both single-session experiments as well as multiday experiments. 550

Although it is widely believed that attendance is directly and positively related to academic achievement, the literature presents mixed findings. Moreover, there is a paucity of research on the potential role of engagement, particularly student participation, in explaining this relation. The present study investigated whether in-class participation mediated the relation between attendance and academic achievement, particularly in the context of a small American liberal arts college. Students' final cumulative exam scores were used as an unconfounded outcome measure for students' learning success (i.e., academic achievement). Our results demonstrated a significant indirect effect of attendance on academic performance through participation, with a point estimate of .08 (SE ϭ .02, 95% CI [.06, .12]). Notably, the direct effect of attendance on academic performance became nonsignificant (B ϭ .03), t(.71), p ϭ .48, when controlling for participation, suggesting a strong mediation effect. These results suggest that students' in-class participation mediates the positive relation between attendance and academic achievement reported in the literature. Although caution should be taken when generalizing these results, as the data were collected in a particular educational context, our results offer potential implications for course instructors. The implications include designing courses and assessment schemes, as well as adopting active learning approaches, to encourage students' in-class participation.