The cognitive process of internally rehearsing actions, events, or scenarios to predict outcomes, evaluate options, and guide decision-making without performing the actions in reality.
Neural: premotor cortex, prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, hippocampus
Cognitive: scenario construction, prediction, counterfactual evaluation
Behavioral: planning actions, anticipating consequences, adjusting strategies
Before giving a presentation, a person mentally rehearses the sequence of slides, anticipates possible questions, and adjusts their explanations based on imagined audience reactions.
Goal/Context → Scenario Construction → Outcome Prediction → Plan Adjustment