Abstract:

In a previous paper, we proposed a three-steps methodology for composing a portfolio journey out of episodic experiences:
(a) choosing a dramaturgic outline for the journey;
(b) scripting each episodic experience as a story portfolio; and
(c); integrating story portfolios into a synchronized journey. [1]

Our main assumption was that, in the era of cognitive transmedia storytelling, a portfolio is a narrative composed by episodic meaningful experiences that people value as their work progresses, as their point of view changes. Episodic experiences are a kind of representation and, as such, they should be modelled by the portfolio’s author. For that purpose, the author counts on his/her memory for bringing to the present, moments in time that are unrelated to the present. We argued that when remembering an episode from the past, the author blends it with similar happening in the present. So, although different, the two events constitute a pattern: a blended identity. However, a portfolio is also a conversation centred on the author’s future self; a situation in which he/she has to reflect on who he/she once was, who he/she is in the present, and who he/she will become in a near or even in a distant future. The author travels forward and backward in time. This means that the author has to count, also, on his/her prospective episodic memory. Neurocognitive researchers refer to this kind of travelling, mental time travel (MTT), a representation of the world based in the subject’s own experiential history and imaginative capacities. [2] In this paper, drawing on the concept of MTT conceived as a simulation that depends on the same neural machinery for both remembering the past and imagining possible future episodes [3], we extend our approach to story portfolio to include, in the blend, the prospective self. Episodic prospection has been argued to be an organizing concept that has implications for academic achievements. [4] In the paper, we re-signify and elaborate this argument for the case of a portfolio narrative intended to educate story minds in the 21st century.

References:
[1] M. Dal Pian, M.C. Dal Pian, and L.F. Dal Pian, “Portfolio in the era of transmedia storytelling: a starring journey in episodes”. 13th Annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference, INTED 2019 Proceedings, Valencia, Spain, pp. 3813-3823, 2019.
[2] E. Tulving, “Memory and consciousness”, Can. J. Psychol., Vol. 26, pp. 1-12,1985.
[3] T. Suddendorf and M.C. Corballis, “The evolution of foresight: what is mental time travel, and is it unique to humans?”, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Vo. 30, pp. 299-351, 2007.
[4] J. Prabhakar, C. Coughlin and S. Guetti, “The neurocognitive development of episodic prospection and its implications for academic achievement: neurocognitive development of episodic prospection”, Mind, Brain, and Education, Vol. 10 (3), pp. 196-206, 2016.

Keywords:

Prospective story portfolio, mental time travel, episodic memory, counterfactual thinking, 21st century skills.