This study analyzed the relation between mental time travel (MTT) and the ability to
produce a storytelling focusing on global coherence, which is one of the most notable
characteristics of narrative discourse. As global coherence is strictly tied to the temporal
sequence of the events narrated in a story, we hypothesized that the construction
of coherent narratives would rely on the ability to mentally navigate in time. To test
such a hypothesis, we investigated the relation between one component of MTT—
namely, episodic future thinking (EFT)—and narrative production skills by comparing the
narratives uttered by 66 children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
with those produced by 66 children with typical development. EFT was assessed by
administering a task with minimal narrative demands, whereas storytelling production
skills were assessed by administering two narrative production tasks that required
children to generate future or past episodes with respect to the target stimuli. The results
showed that EFT skills were impaired only in a subgroup of children with ASD and that
such subgroup performed significantly worse on the narrative production task than ASD
participants with high EFT skills and participants with typical development. The practical
and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
