How language and event recall can shape memory for time

Abstract

How do we represent the duration of past events that we have conceptualized through language? Prior research suggests that memory for duration depends on the segmental structure perceived at encoding. However, it remains unclear why duration memory displays characteristic distortions and whether language-mediated encoding can further distort duration memory. Here we examine these questions and specifically ask whether the amount of event information recalled relative to the stimulus duration explains temporal distortions. In several studies, participants first studied animated stimuli described by phrases implying either fast or slow motion (e.g., a mule vs car going up a road). They then mentally reproduced the stimuli from memory (as if replaying them in their minds) and verbally recalled them. We manipulated the amount of stimulus study and the type of recall cue (visual vs linguistic) to assess the role of language and information recalled on the length of mental reproductions. Results indicated that the density of the information recalled (number of details recalled per second) explained temporal distortions: higher density events were lengthened and lower density events were shortened. Moreover, language additionally lengthened or shortened duration reproductions when phrases cued the task, suggesting that episodic details and verbal conceptual features were combined during recollection rather than encoding. These results suggest that the density of the details recalled and language-mediated recollection shape memory for event duration. We argue that temporal memory distortions stem from event encoding and retrieval mechanisms. Implications of these findings for theories of time, memory and language are discussed.