Thinking about upcoming events helps people to plan and prepare. But our research shows there is an unintended side effect for memory. For instance, you might imagine an important meeting tomorrow going well. After the meeting, you will be more likely to remember the positive aspects of the meeting, and forget the negative aspects. In essence, thinking about the future can change what is remembered about the past. Since people often imagine future events in their daily lives, this interaction between future thinking and memory has important consequences for the accuracy of our memory.
Relevant publications:
Looking on the bright side: Aging and the impact of emotional future simulation on subsequent memory
Devitt, A.L., & Schacter, D.L. (2019). Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences.
An optimistic outlook creates a rosy past: The impact of episodic simulation on subsequent memory
Devitt, A.L., & Schacter, D.L. (2018). Psychological Science, 29, 936–946.
As we get older, we generally remember less, what we do remember is less detailed, and we become more vulnerable to memory distortion. Our research examines the effect of healthy aging on the ability to remember and imagine specific life events. We have shown that as people age, they produce more non-specific (semantic) detail when remembering life events to compensate for a lack of specific (episodic) detail. Our lab has also found age-related changes in brain activation when imagining negative future events, that might contribute to an age-related increase in positivity when thinking about the future. By understanding how our healthy aging affects memory and imagination, we can better design interventions to improve memory and quality of life with age.
Relevant publications:
Devitt, A.L., Roberts, R., Metson A., Tippett, L., & Addis, D.R. (2024). Neuropsychologia 193, 108754.
Age-related changes in repetition suppression of neural activity during emotional future simulation
Devitt, A.L., Thakral, P.P., Szpunar, K., Addis, D.R., & Schacter, D.L. (2020). Neurobiology of Aging.
Episodic and semantic content of memory and imagination: A multilevel analysis
Devitt, A.L., Addis, D.R., & Schacter, D.L. (2017). Memory & Cognition, 45, 1078–1094.
Remembering is similar to assembling a jigsaw puzzle: to form a memory, all the correct pieces must be found and put together in the right way. Sometimes this reassembly process goes wrong, leading to memory distortions. Our research examines different ways in which our memory can be distorted. One way is through conjunction errors, where people mistakenly merge details from different memories. Our lab also examines why people become more vulnerable to memory distortions as they get older, and has identified cognitive changes that might contribute to an increased susceptibility to memory errors with age. If we can understand the ways in which memory goes wrong, we can better develop methods to enhance the accuracy of memory.
Relevant publications:
Age‑related changes in susceptibility to false memories in different tasks.
Devitt, A.L. & Foster, J. (2026). Memory & Cognition, 53(3), 748-766.
Linking creativity and false memory: Common consequences of a flexible memory system.
Thakral, P.P., Devitt, A.L., Brashier, N., & Schacter, D.L. (2021). Cognition, 217, 104905.
False memories with age: neural and cognitive underpinnings
Devitt, A.L., & Schacter, D.L. (2016). Neuropsychologia, 91, 346–359.
Factors that influence the generation of autobiographical memory conjunction errors
Devitt, A.L., Monk-Fromont, E., Schacter, D.L., & Addis, D.R. (2016). Memory, 24, 204–222.