Psychology researcher, Karl Szpunar, receives SSHRC Connection Grant
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s (external link) (SSHRC) Connection Grants fund events and outreach activities designed for short-term, focused knowledge mobilization initiatives. These activities offer opportunities to share knowledge and engage with participants on important research issues. Events and outreach activities supported by a Connection Grant often serve as a stepping stone toward more extensive and long-term projects.
Karl Szpunar, Psychology Professor
Psychology professor, Karl Szpunar, leads the Memory Lab (external link) , which focuses on research uncovering the cognitive and neural mechanisms that support the practical use of memory in everyday life. Key areas of interest include the role of memory in learning and future-oriented thinking. Szpunar’s research focuses on elucidating the cognitive and neural mechanisms that support memory and the capacity to imagine and act on the future.
Szpunar, and their collaborator, Dr. Donna Rose Addis (external link) , Senior Scientist and C150 Research Chair at Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, have been selected to organize a Leading Edge workshop for the 65th annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society (external link) : The Future of Future Thinking: Toward an Integrated Science of Prospective Cognition.
The workshop will bring together an international panel of scientists to develop a conceptual map of future-oriented cognition. This work will aim to facilitate intellectual exchange and collaboration across disciplinary lines. The workshop outcomes will be published in a special issue of Psychonomic Bulletin & Review (external link) .
Szpunar and Addis aim to address the gaps related to the capacity to think about the future as a core feature of human cognition that underlines the ability to adapt to dynamic and changing environments. “For instance,” notes Szpunar, “the ability to formulate personal plans, calculate economic forecasts and anticipate the impact of climate change are all rooted in this core capacity to think about the future.”
The concept of future thinking is widely studied across psychological disciplines. Cognitive psychologists examine the cognitive and neural mechanisms involved, while developmental psychologists focus on its development and changes throughout the lifespan. Social psychologists investigate prediction errors, and clinical psychologists look at biases in future thinking related to mood and anxiety disorders. Comparative and behavioural psychologists explore whether animals can use future representations to guide behaviour. Despite its broad interest, future thinking research often lacks interdisciplinary communication.
The Connection Grant allows Szpunar and Addis to incorporate a student training component into the Leading Edge workshop. This grant will fund eight graduate students from various regions of Canada, each specializing in different areas of future-oriented cognition, to attend the workshop and present their research at the conference. These students will have the unique opportunity to network with top scholars in prospective cognition and contribute to the theoretical advancement of this rapidly expanding field.
“We are thrilled to be able to support the academic development of the many talented graduate students across Canada who are already making meaningful contributions to the study of future thinking, and who will continue to play a central role in the development of a multidisciplinary field of study that has many important implications for self and society.”