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Empirical evaluation of mental time travel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2007

Caroline Raby ,
Dean Alexis ,
Anthony Dickinson  and
Nicola Clayton
Caroline Raby
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, United Kingdom. [email protected]@[email protected]@cam.ac.ukwww.psychol.cam.ac.uk/ccl/
Dean Alexis
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, United Kingdom. [email protected]@[email protected]@cam.ac.ukwww.psychol.cam.ac.uk/ccl/
Anthony Dickinson
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, United Kingdom. [email protected]@[email protected]@cam.ac.ukwww.psychol.cam.ac.uk/ccl/
Nicola Clayton
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, United Kingdom. [email protected]@[email protected]@cam.ac.ukwww.psychol.cam.ac.uk/ccl/
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Abstract

Although the mental time travel (MTT) hypothesis provides a rich, conceptual framework, the absence of clear, empirically tractable, behavioural criteria for determining the capacity for MTT restricts its usefulness in comparative research. Examples of empirical criteria for evaluating MTT in animals are given. We also question the authors' evaluation of semantic foresight and their even-handedness in assessing human and nonhuman behaviour.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , June 2007 , pp. 330 - 331
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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References

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