Improving Physical Task Performance with Counterfactual and Prefactual Thinking.

Etsuro Ito,Cecilia Hammell,Amy Y. C. Chan

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0168181

Abstract

Counterfactual thinking (reflecting on “what might have been”) has been shown to enhance future performance by translating information about past mistakes into plans for future action. Prefactual thinking (imagining “what might be if…”) may serve a greater preparative function than counterfactual thinking as it is future-orientated and focuses on more controllable features, thus providing a practical script to prime future behaviour. However, whether or not this difference in hypothetical thought content may translate into a difference in actual task performance has been largely unexamined. In Experiment 1 (n = 42), participants performed trials of a computer-simulated physical task, in between which they engaged in either task-related hypothetical thinking (counterfactual or prefactual) or an unrelated filler task (control). As hypothesised, prefactuals contained more controllable features than counterfactuals. Moreover, participants who engaged in either form of hypothetical thinking improved significantly in task performance over trials compared to participants in the control group. The difference in thought content between counterfactuals and prefactuals, however, did not yield a significant difference in performance improvement. Experiment 2 (n = 42) replicated these findings in a dynamic balance task environment. Together, these findings provide further evidence for the preparatory function of counterfactuals, and demonstrate that prefactuals share this same functional characteristic.

Highlights

People often imagine how an outcome of a past event might have been different and how things might be different in the future
Participants in the counterfactual thinking (CFT) and prefactual thinking (PFT) conditions generated a total of 191 thoughts
This study examined the preparative functions of prefactual thinking compared with counterfactual thinking

Summary

Introduction

People often imagine how an outcome of a past event might have been different (counterfactual thinking) and how things might be different in the future (prefactual thinking). Elicited by a negative event (e.g., losing in a race), counterfactual and prefactual thoughts take the form of “if-” conditional propositions in which the “if” specifies an alternative action (e.g., “if only I had trained harder” for counterfactuals; “if only time I train harder” for prefactuals) and the “” specifies an imagined outcome or goal (e.g., “ I would have won/ I will win the race”). Such thoughts allow one to consider different courses of action that may have led, or may lead, to a more desirable outcome, preparing them to implement such actions if a comparable situation presents itself in the future [1]. Counterfactual thoughts following a negative event (e.g., bad sunburn) that contain more detailed information and involve specific behaviours (e.g., practicing good skin care) rather than personal qualities (e.g., being more responsible) are more likely to translate into behavioural intentions (e.g., wearing sunscreen in the future) [7]

Methods

Results

Conclusion