Event endings in memory and language

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.

记忆对于理解并将周围活动的流动划分为称为“事件”的单元至关重要。本研究旨在探究动作（已停止或持续进行）的运动动力学以及事件（伴随或未伴随对象状态变化）的内在结构对人们事件记忆的影响。此外，本研究还探讨了描述事件及其所使用的动词谓词的意义和形式（在单一动词或动词补足结构中是否表示一个终结时刻）对事件记忆的影响。在执行惊喜识别任务之前，西班牙语和普通话使用者（他们在不同的动词谓词形式中词汇化终结）观看了事件短片，这些短片在非言语（探测识别）或言语实验（事件描述）中进行。结果显示，终结事件（即状态变化停止的事件）在所有实验中记忆效果最佳。语言的使用显示出对记忆的总体提升作用。此外，用于表示终结的动词谓词的形式对记忆产生了适度的影响。