Concept information
Preferred term
spoon task
Definition
- A non-verbal method for studying episodic future thinking in children and non-human animals, in which the subject is asked to choose a tool or an object for future use.
Broader concept
Synonym(s)
- spoon test
Belongs to group
Bibliographic citation(s)
-
• Atance, C. M., Ayson, G., & Martin-Ordas, G. (2023). Moving beyond “Spoon” tasks: When do children autocue their episodic future thought? WIREs Cognitive Science, 14(4), e1646. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1646
• Document type: literature review
• Access: open
- • Mulcahy, N. J., & Call, J. (2006). Apes save tools for future use. Science, 312(5776), 1038–1040. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1125456
{{#each properties}}• Document type: empirical study
• Access: closed
- • Pham, Q. A., Ayson, G., Atance, C. M., & Blankenship, T. L. (2025). Measuring spontaneous episodic future thinking in children: Challenges and opportunities. Learning & Behavior, 53(1), 80–91. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13420-024-00644-1
• Document type: literature review
• Access: closed
- • Suddendorf, T., Nielsen, M., & Von Gehlen, R. (2011). Children’s capacity to remember a novel problem and to secure its future solution: Future solutions of novel problems. Developmental Science, 14(1), 26–33. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2010.00950.x
• Document type: empirical study
• Access: closed
- • Tulving, E. (2005). Episodic memory and autonoesis: Uniquely human? In H. S. Terrace & J. Metcalfe (Eds.), The missing link in cognition: Origins of self-reflective consciousness (pp. 3–56). Oxford university Press.
• Document type: literature review
• Access: closed
- • Wilkins, C., & Clayton, N. (2019). Reflections on the spoon test. Neuropsychologia, 134, 107221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107221
• Document type: literature review
• Access: closed
Creator
- Frank Arnould
In other languages
-
French
-
test de la cuillère
URI
http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/P66-CX159D2C-9{{/each}}{{label}}
{{#each values }} {{! loop through ConceptPropertyValue objects }} {{#if prefLabel }}{{/if}} {{/each}}{{#if notation }}{{ notation }} {{/if}}{{ prefLabel }} {{#ifDifferentLabelLang lang }} ({{ lang }}){{/ifDifferentLabelLang}}{{#if vocabName }} {{ vocabName }} {{/if}} - • Mulcahy, N. J., & Call, J. (2006). Apes save tools for future use. Science, 312(5776), 1038–1040. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1125456