Although Tulving argues5 that the episodic
memory system underlies the ability to project
events that involve the self into the future, what is
left unspecified is the nature of such a
self-projection, that is, what we will term the
‘pre-experiencing’ of a future event. Note that in
episodic future thinking the imagination is not
given free reign, but rather, the projection is
constrained. For instance, envisaging my
forthcoming vacation might require me to consider
such factors as how much spending money I will
have, how much work I will have completed before
I go, and so on (i.e. constraints).
We hope to provide a more detailed
conceptualization of what episodic future thinking
entails through our application of this construct to
five areas of psychology. In particular, we will
highlight how episodic future thinking is distinct
from semantic knowledge regarding the future, or,
in other words, what could be termed ‘semantic
future thinking’