| Abstract: | Influence of future orientation on temporal coding was investigated in two experimental studies. A three by two paradigm involving three conditions of list discrimination and two groups of subjects of high and low future orientation, was used. Story writing technique and list discrimination tasks were employed to assess future orientation and efficiency in using temporal codes, respectively. Results show that in experiment 1, when subjects had been forewarned about an impending memory test and hence there was a competition between these future demands and present demands of an orienting task, performance of high as compared to low future oriented subjects was better on list discrimination tasks; they utilized temporal codes more efficiently. This difference in performance between high and low future oriented groups of subjects was not evident in experiment 2 when there was no forewarning about an impending memory test. Temporal coding was better for different concept rather than same concept lists. It is argued that type of material, as well as perception of future utility of material, influence the amount of temporal coding for both groups of subjects, but dispositional future orientation also mediates the perception of the utility of a material in the future to affect its temporal coding. |
