Can the prosocial benefits of episodic simulation transfer to different people and situational contexts?

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  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: Elsevier Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 0367541 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-7838 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00100277 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Cognition Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Publication: Amsterdam : Elsevier
      Original Publication: Hague, Mouton.
    • Subject Terms:
      Imagination*/physiology ; Memory, Episodic*; Humans ; Intention ; Computer Simulation
    • Abstract:
      Previous research has found that episodic simulation of events of helping others can effectively enhance intentions to help the same person involved and the identical situational context as the imagined scenarios. This 'prosocial simulation effect' is argued to reflect, at least in part, associative memory mechanisms whereby the simulation is reactivated when in the same situation as that imagined. However, to date, no study has examined systematically whether this 'prosocial simulation effect' can be transferred to response scenarios involving different people and/or situational contexts to the imagined scenarios, and if so, whether the degree of overlap with the imagined helping episode modulated the transfer effect. Across two experiments, we systematically varied the overlap of the simulated and response scenarios, both in terms of the persons in need and/or the situational contexts, and whether would influence the magnitude of prosocial simulation effect. Results from both experiments showed that the prosocial simulation effect can be transferred to response scenarios involving different people and situational contexts to the simulated scenarios. However, this finding was primarily driven by response scenarios that had a high degree of overlap to the simulated scenarios. The application of our findings to the practical implementation of simulation to promote prosociality in the real world is discussed.
      (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
    • Contributed Indexing:
      Keywords: Bayesian analysis; Episodic simulation; Generalisation; Imagination; Prosocial; Transfer
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20240114 Date Completed: 20240126 Latest Revision: 20240514
    • Publication Date:
      20240515
    • Accession Number:
      10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105718
    • Accession Number:
      38219452