ERIC Number: EJ1376130
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Nov
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: EISSN-1939-1285
Priming of Movie Content Is Modulated by Event Boundaries
Kurby, Christopher A.; Zacks, Jeffrey M.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v48 n11 p1559-1570 Nov 2022
Perceivers spontaneously segment ongoing activity into discrete events. This segmentation is important for the moment-by-moment understanding of events, but may also be critical for how events are encoded into episodic memory. In 3 experiments, we used priming to test the possibility that perceptual event boundaries organize memory for everyday activity into episodic units. Viewers watched movies of everyday activities, such as someone washing a car, and then performed a yes-no recognition task using pictures taken from the movies. Some target pictures were preceded by a prime picture taken from 5 s previously in the movie. This produced priming, reducing response times for the target picture. Priming was greater when the prime was part of the same perceptual event as the target than when it was part of a different event, suggesting that event structure organizes episodic memory. This effect persisted when the sequence of activity was scrambled during encoding, which suggests that it reflects, in part, knowledge about event types and not just the specifics of a given episode.
Descriptors: Films, Priming, Sequential Learning, Cognitive Processes, Cognitive Science, Memory, Schemata (Cognition), Reaction Time, Undergraduate Students, Accuracy
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (NIH) (DHHS)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Washington; Michigan
Grant or Contract Numbers: R01AG031150; T32AG00003031
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/234jw/