Dwell Times Reveal Effects of Abstract Event Type on Attention Allocation

Dados Bibliográficos

ID7150296
AutoresJamie Yuen (0000-0002-5020-4285, Department of Linguistics University of Pennsylvania), Sarah Hye‐yeon Lee (0000-0002-6130-6244, Department of Linguistics University of Pennsylvania, autor correspondente), Anna Papafragou (0000-0001-5435-1058, Department of Linguistics University of Pennsylvania)
Ano2026
Volume50
Fascículo1
Páginase70169-e70169
Data de publicação2026-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCognitive Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0364-0213 • E-ISSN: 1551-6709
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/cogs.70169
PMID41553768
OpenAlexW7124832835
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas37

The human mind can segment continuous streams of activity in the world into meaningful, discrete units known as events. However, not all events are created equal. We draw a distinction between bounded events (e.g., folding a handkerchief) that have a predictable structure that develops in distinct stages (i.e., a beginning, middle, and end) and a well‐defined endpoint, and unbounded events (e.g., waving a handkerchief) that lack such a well‐defined structure and endpoint. We predict that event boundedness affects attention allocation patterns over the course of the event. Here, we tested this prediction using a dwell time paradigm by measuring the time participants spent on each still frame of an activity. We found that event endpoints attracted increased attention compared to midpoints; importantly, this increase was significantly greater when people viewed bounded events compared to unbounded events. In addition, event endpoints attracted increased attention compared to event beginnings, but this pattern also interacted with event boundedness (Experiment 1). These results replicated even when a linguistic preview of the events was introduced (Experiment 2). We conclude that abstract internal event structure (specifically, event boundedness) affects attention allocation during online event apprehension

Bounded function · Dwell time · Event structure · Action Observation and Synchronization · Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism