We study how people go beyond the direct experienced here and now to consider the distal (future and past) time, far away locations, other people, and hypothetical (counterfactual) events.  We study what enables such expansion of scope and what are the consequences of such expansion. For example, how psychological distancing and adopting an abstract mindset affects cognitive performance and working memory? How it affects ability to take long-run considerations (e.g., reputation) when making decisions?