Simulating the best and worst of times: the powers and perils of emotional simulation

Wardell, Victoria; Grilli, Matthew D.; Palombo, Daniela J.

doi:10.1080/09658211.2022.2088796

Cited by 8 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…Through our mind, we can simulate-in rich and vivid detail-the best and worst of times, a cognitive ability dubbed emotional imagination. 1 For example, one could imagine themselves on their upcoming graduation day feeling prideful. Or one could imagine themselves fumbling a forthcoming talk, feeling deep shame.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We highlight the importance of emotional imagination as a predictive endeavor-one that decouples us from the confines of the external world: in the mind's eye, we can vicariously sample a vast state space of scenarios and possibilities, learning to predict what paths are best to take should the hypothetical situations arise. 1,[5][6][7] Indeed, our internal milieu is an important testbed that allows humans to simulate models of the world-an intrinsic "look before you leap." 8 Throughout our review, we also highlight the centrality of imagination in the regulation of emotional responses, a a Emotion regulation is "a process by which individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express these emotions."…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But just as the external environment produces events that engender a range of emotions, so does the internal environment: the mind's eye . Through our mind, we can simulate—in rich and vivid detail—the best and worst of times, a cognitive ability dubbed emotional imagination 1 . For example, one could imagine themselves on their upcoming graduation day feeling prideful.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Or one could imagine themselves fumbling a forthcoming talk, feeling deep shame. Emotional imagination appears to be a ubiquitous human phenomenon: about two‐thirds of self‐generated thought (which includes imagination) is emotional in nature 1 , 2 (also see Refs. 3 and 4).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this short review, we synthesize research from several domains of cognitive science and neuroscience to explore how emotional imagination shapes cognition and behavior. We highlight the importance of emotional imagination as a predictive endeavor—one that decouples us from the confines of the external world: in the mind's eye, we can vicariously sample a vast state space of scenarios and possibilities, learning to predict what paths are best to take should the hypothetical situations arise 1,5–7 . Indeed, our internal milieu is an important testbed that allows humans to simulate models of the world—an intrinsic “look before you leap.” 8 Throughout our review, we also highlight the centrality of imagination in the regulation of emotional responses, a topic that has long been acknowledged within clinical psychology 6 , 11 but only more recently emphasized among cognitive scientists and neuroscientists 12‐14 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emotion in the mind's eye: Imagination for adaptive cognition

Cocquyt

Palombo

2023

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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In a complex world, we are constantly faced with environmental stimuli that shape our moment‐to‐moment experiences. But just as rich and complex as the external world is the internal milieu—our imagination. Imagination offers a powerful vehicle for playing out hypothetical experiences in the mind's eye. It allows us to mentally time travel to behold what the future might bring, including our greatest desires or fears. Indeed, imagined experiences tend to be emotion‐laden. How and why are humans capable of this remarkable feat? Based on psychological findings, we highlight the importance of imagination for emotional aspects of cognition and behavior, namely in the generation and regulation of emotions. Based on recent cognitive neuroscience work, we identify putative neural networks that are most critical for emotional imagination, with a major focus on the default mode network. Finally, we briefly highlight the possible functional implications of individual differences in imagination. Overall, we hope to address why humans have the capacity to simulate hypothetical emotional experiences and how this ability can be harnessed in adaptive (and sometimes maladaptive) ways. We end by discussing open questions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Emotion in the mind's eye: Imagination for adaptive cognition

Cocquyt

Palombo

2023

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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“What if…?”: Vividness and frequency of counterfactual thinking in survivors of terrorism

Undset,

Jensen,

Dyb

et al. 2024

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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After traumatic experiences, it is common to think about alternative scenarios or outcomes of the event. This is often referred to as counterfactual thoughts (CFT), and CFT after trauma have been associated with posttraumatic stress reactions (PTSR). In this study, we aimed to: (1) investigate the relationship between the vividness and frequency of CFT and PTSR, and to (2) examine the associations between exposure, peri‐traumatic reactions, physical injury and the loss of someone close, and the subsequent vividness and frequency of CFT. The participants (N = 289) were survivors of a terror attack in Norway. More vivid and frequent CFT were significantly and independently related to more PTSR. Exposure during trauma was significantly associated with more vivid CFT in the unadjusted regression model. No further significant relationships were found between exposure, peri‐traumatic reactions, physical injury and the loss of someone close, and the vividness and frequency of CFT. As CFT are common after trauma and potentially cause distress, clinicians should identify and validate CFT, and provide coping assistance.

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Negative (but not positive) affective episodic future thinking enhances proactive behavior in 5-year-old children.

Schreiber,

Schneider,

Newen

et al. 2024

Emotion

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Envisioning the future and how you may feel (affective episodic future thinking [EFT]) helps adults to act in favor for their future self, according to manifold experiments. The current study tested whether and how affective EFT also helps children to behave more proactively, that is, to self-initially prepare for an upcoming event. Five-year-old (N = 90) children (data collected from 2021 to 2022) were instructed to mentally imagine how they would feel after successfully managing an upcoming test (positive affective EFT), how they would feel after failing to do so (negative affective EFT), or they were reminded of an upcoming test without a prompt to imagine (control condition, random assignment). Proactive behavior was indicated by children's choice to play one of three games before the actual test (one of the games was announced to be the test game). Mechanisms (e.g., motivation to win, psychological distance, current affect) and moderators (ability of episodically thinking about the future in everyday life, behavioral inhibition, and behavioral approach) for the possible effects of affective EFT were explored. Children in the negative affective EFT condition chose the target game significantly above chance level and more often than children in the control group, whereas children in the positive affective EFT condition did not. This effect was independent of the assumed mediators and moderators. Findings are discussed in the context of the theoretical and empirical literature on affective EFT in adults and suggestions for future studies are given.

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Simulating the best and worst of times: the powers and perils of emotional simulation

Cited by 8 publications

References 163 publications

Emotion in the mind's eye: Imagination for adaptive cognition

Emotion in the mind's eye: Imagination for adaptive cognition

“What if…?”: Vividness and frequency of counterfactual thinking in survivors of terrorism

Negative (but not positive) affective episodic future thinking enhances proactive behavior in 5-year-old children.

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