Background Research

The Time Travel Simplified methodology, and the series of books that it has created, are the culmination of research which I’ve been conducting over the past decade. What I have attempted to accomplish is the creation of a time travel experience that anyone could be a part of, no matter their age or knowledge of history. 

Research references

The books go into greater detail about how the Time Travel Simplified modules become consolidated in memory (HINT: it's a lot like a study-abroad experience), but if you would like to read some of the background research on mental time travel (MTT), the narrative structure of autobiographical memory, and the role of epigenetics in human consciousness, these research articles will get you started!

Bluck, S., Alea, N., & Ali, S. (2014). Remembering the historical roots of remembering the personal past. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28, 290-300. http://doi.org/fpjk
​psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-12799-002

Brewin, C. R., & Andrews, B. (2017). Creating memories for false autobiographical events in childhood: A systematic review. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 31, 2-23. http://doi.org/dtb5
​onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/acp.3220

Corballis, M. C. (2013). Wandering tales: Evolutionary origins of mental time travel and language. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 1-8.
​www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3725404/

Garry, M., & Gerrie, M. P. (2005). When photographs create false memories. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14(6), 321-325.
​psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-02404-009

Garry, M., & Wade, K. A. (2005). Actually, a picture is worth less than 45 words: Narratives produce more false memories than photographs do. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 12(2), 359-366. 
​citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.476.2198&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Grysman, A., & Hudson, J. A. (2010). Abstracting and extracting: Causal coherence and the development of the life story. Memory, 18(6), 565-580.
​www.researchgate.net/publication/45200870_Abstracting_and_extracting_Causal_coherence_and_the_development_of_the_life_story

Hardt, R. (2018). Storytelling agents: Why narrative rather than mental time travel is fundamental. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 17, 535-554. http://doi.org/dtb3
​link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11097-017-9530-2

Hessen-Kayfitz, J., Scoboria, A., & Nespoli, K. (2017). The labeling of photos when suggesting false childhood events can enhance or suppress false memory formation. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 4(3), 288-297.
​www.researchgate.net/publication/305807338_The_Labeling_of_Photos_When_Suggesting_False_Childhood_Events_Can_Enhance_or_Suppress_False_Memory_Formation

Köber, C. & Habermas, T. (2017). How stable is the personal past? Stability of most important autobiographical memories and life narratives across eight years in a life span sample. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(4), 608-626.
​psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-13229-001

Liester, M. B., & Sullivan, E. E. (2019). A review of epigenetics in human consciousness. Cogent Psychology, 6, 1-29.
​www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311908.2019.1668222

McAdams, D. P. (2001). The psychology of life stories. Review of General Psychology, 5(2), 100-122.
​www.sesp.northwestern.edu/docs/publications/430816076490a3ddfc3fe1.pdf

McLean, K. C., & Pratt, M. W. (2006). Life’s little (and big) lessons: Identity statuses and meaning-making in the turning point narratives of emerging adults. Developmental Psychology, 42(4), 714-722. 
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6981596_Life's_Little_and_Big_Lessons_Identity_Statuses_and_Meaning-Making_in_the_Turning_Point_Narratives_of_Emerging_Adults

Otgaar, H., Scororia, A., & Smeets, T. (2013). Experimentally evoking nonbelieved memories for childhood events. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 39(3), 717-730.
​pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22905934/

Pasupathi, M., Mansour, E., & Brubaker, J. (2007). Developing a life story: Constructing relations between self and experience in autobiographical narratives. Human Development, 50(2-3) 85-110. http://doi.org/dxc2dr 
​www.selfdefiningmemories.com/Pasupathi__Mansour__Brubaker__2007.pdf

Pezdek, K. & Blandon-Gitlin, I. (2017). It is just harder to construct memories for false autobiographical events. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 31, 42-44.
​psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-45939-001

Rasmussen, K. W., & Berntsen, D. (2014). “I can see clearly now”: The effect of cue imageability on mental time travel. Memory & Cognition, 42(7), 1063-1075.
​pure.au.dk/portal/files/85033891/_I_can_see_clearly_now_The_effect_of_Cue_Imageability_on_Mental_Time_Travel_2014_.pdf

Sanson, M., Newman, E. J., & Garry, M. (2018). The characteristics of directive future experiences and directive memories. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 5(3), 278-294.
​psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-40490-001

Scoboria, A., Wysman, L., & Otgaar, H. (2012). Credible suggestions affect false autobiographical beliefs. Memory, 20(3), 429-442.
​www.researchgate.net/publication/224853431_Credible_suggestions_affect_false_autobiographical_beliefs

Seligman, M. E., & Roepke, A. M. (2016). Prospection gone awry: Depression. In M. E. Seligman, P. Railton, R. F. Butler, & C. Sripada (Eds.), Homo prospectus (pp. 281-304). Oxford University Press.

Seligman, M. E., & Tierney, J. (2017, May 19). We aren’t built to live in the moment. The New 
York Times.
​www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/opinion/sunday/why-the-future-is- always-on-your-mind.html

Storm, B. C., & Jobe, T. A. (2012). Remembering the past and imagining the future: Examining the consequences of mental time travel on memory. Memory, 20(3), 224-235.
​psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-07322-004

Wade, K. A., Garry, M., Read, J. D., & Lindsay, D. S. (2002). A picture is worth a thousand lies: Using false photographs to create false childhood memories. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 9, 597-603.
​citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.334.9844&rep=rep1&type=pdf