Precrastination, anticipation, and signalization: Implications for adaptive action

Professor Edward Wasserman Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa

Procrastination is a familiar and widely discussed proclivity: postponing tasks that can be done earlier. Precrastination is a lesser known and explored tendency: completing tasks quickly just to get them done sooner. Recent research suggests that precrastination may represent an important penchant that can be observed in both people and animals. I review evidence concerned with precrastination and connect that evidence with a long history of interest in anticipatory learning, distance reception, and brain evolution. I go on to encompass several related topics including impulsivity, planning, and self-control.

Precrastination may be a new term in the psychological lexicon, but it may be a predisposition with an extended evolutionary history. Placing precrastination within the general rubric of anticipatory action may yield important insights into both adaptive and maladaptive behaviour.

Save this event

• Google Calendar
• Yahoo Calendar
• iCalendar