ABSTRACT

Memory is fundamental for comprehending and segmenting the flow of activity around us into units called “events”. Here, we investigate the effect of the movement dynamics of actions (ceased, ongoing) and the inner structure of events (with or without object-state change) on people's event memory. Furthermore, we investigate how describing events, and the meaning and form of verb predicates used (denoting a culmination moment, or not, in single verbs or verb-satellite constructions), affects event memory. Before taking a surprise recognition task, Spanish and Mandarin speakers (who lexicalise culmination in different verb predicate forms) watched short videos of events, either in a non-verbal (probe-recognition) or a verbal experiment (event description). Results show that culminated events (i.e. ceased change-of-state events) were remembered best across experiments. Language use showed to enhance memory overall. Further, the form of the verb predicates used for denoting culmination had a moderate effect on memory.

摘要

记忆对于理解和将我们周围的活动流划分为称为“事件”的单位至关重要。在这里，我们研究了动作的运动动力学（停止，进行中）和事件的内部结构（有或没有对象状态变化）对人们事件记忆的影响。此外，我们研究了事件的描述以及所用动词谓词的含义和形式（在单个动词或动词-卫星结构中，是否表示高潮时刻）如何影响事件记忆。在执行突击识别任务之前，讲西班牙语和汉语的人（词汇动词形式不同，动词谓词形式达到高潮）观看了事件的简短视频，这些视频都是非语言的（探针识别）或口头的实验（事件描述）。结果表明，最终事件（即 在整个实验中，对状态变化停止事件的记忆力最好。语言的使用显示出整体上增强了记忆力。此外，用于表示高潮的动词谓词的形式对记忆有中等程度的影响。