Inferences about event outcomes influence text-based memory of event outcomes

Xinyan Kou; Jill Hohenstein

doi:10.1515/cog-2023-0053

Inferences about event outcomes influence text-based memory of event outcomes

Xinyan Kou^*, Jill Hohenstein

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Memory of event outcomes is a topic increasingly discussed in the field of event language and cognition. This study approaches how language influences memory of event outcomes from the under-explored perspective of the verb's "fulfilment type", a property formulated in Talmy's event integration theory. This property indicates the extent to which verbs depict fulfilment of intentions. Through two experiments, we explored how verbs' fulfilment type properties shape the text-based memory of event outcomes according to their perceived likelihood of intention fulfilment. There are two major findings. First, people tend to have "fulfilment preferences"and infer that intention fulfilment is more likely than intention non-fulfilment. Second, intention-unfulfilled event outcomes tend to be remembered better for event descriptions that trigger no fulfilment perferences. This study contributes to event language and memory research by demonstrating how language-generated inferences can influence established memory of event outcomes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	513-545
Number of pages	33
Journal	COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS
Volume	35
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1515/cog-2023-0053
Publication status	Published - 1 Nov 2024

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Inferences about event outcomes influence text-based memory of event outcomes

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