Document Type
Article
Publication Date
January 2001
Journal or Book Title
Current Directions in Psychological Science
Volume
10
Abstract
Recognizing opportunities to achieve pending goals is an important cognitive ability. But when and how do we recognize that a current situation is especially suited to resuming a past goal? The predictive encoding model suggests pending goals are encoded into memory in association with anticipated environmental features. Optimally, these features are (a) necessary for successful goal satisfaction, (b) distinctive preconditions for expecting a plan to achieve the goal, and (c) described so as to be readily identified in the environment. Later, ordinary perception of features in the environment leads to automatic recognition of opportunities already prepared in memory. Evidence from experimental studies supports this theory, and demonstrates that general preparation can produce apparently novel opportunism. These findings suggest ways to facilitate the recognition of opportunities to satisfy pending goals.
Recommended Citation
Seifert, C. M., & Patalano, A. L. (2001). Opportunism in memory: Preparing for chance encounters. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10, 198-201.