TY - JOUR
T1 - Personal and Observational Episodic Memory Support Episodic Future Thinking for Oneself and Another in 3–5-Year-Olds
AU - Pham, Que Anh
AU - Blankenship, Tashauna
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 The Author(s). Infant and Child Development published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2026/7/1
Y1 - 2026/7/1
N2 - Seminal studies on children's episodic future thinking (EFT) have focused on EFT facilitated by direct experience. However, social EFT—helping someone with a future task—may rely on observing that person to infer goals and offer appropriate support. The role of personal and observational memory in guiding EFT for oneself and another was examined. One hundred sixty-four children ages 3–5 years (92 females) who were Asian (n = 34), Black (n = 2), White (n = 118) and mixed-race (n = 8) (remaining unknown) participated. Results showed that children performed best when episodic memory (EM) and EFT conditions matched: Personal EM supported EFT for oneself and observational EM supported EFT for another, both above chance (respectively, p < 0.0001, g = 0.49; p < 0.0001, g = 0.39).
AB - Seminal studies on children's episodic future thinking (EFT) have focused on EFT facilitated by direct experience. However, social EFT—helping someone with a future task—may rely on observing that person to infer goals and offer appropriate support. The role of personal and observational memory in guiding EFT for oneself and another was examined. One hundred sixty-four children ages 3–5 years (92 females) who were Asian (n = 34), Black (n = 2), White (n = 118) and mixed-race (n = 8) (remaining unknown) participated. Results showed that children performed best when episodic memory (EM) and EFT conditions matched: Personal EM supported EFT for oneself and observational EM supported EFT for another, both above chance (respectively, p < 0.0001, g = 0.49; p < 0.0001, g = 0.39).
KW - episodic future thinking
KW - episodic memory
KW - observational memory
KW - social cognition
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105046199321
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105046199321#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1002/icd.70128
DO - 10.1002/icd.70128
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105046199321
SN - 1522-7227
VL - 35
JO - Infant and Child Development
JF - Infant and Child Development
IS - 4
M1 - e70128
ER -