Examining the Reproducibility of Temporal Event Boundaries in Continued Influence Effect and Event Segmentation Paradigms

Event segmentation theory proposes that individuals segment the incoming stream of information into meaningful events, separated by event boundaries that are triggered by contextual change. This segmentation has important implications for memory and learning. Following unexpected findings from a study that examined the effect of spatial event boundaries on information integration and updating in a continued influence effect (CIE) paradigm, the present study sought to reproduce the reported effects of temporal event boundaries on memory in two experiments. Participants read event narratives that manipulated the presence or absence of temporal event boundaries. Participants’ memory for pre-boundary information was then tested. While Experiment 1 showed no significant impact of a temporal event boundary on recall or recognition memory using event reports of the format used in typical CIE studies, Experiment 2 partially replicated previous research, finding that temporal event boundaries impaired recognition accuracy (though not response speed) when using linear event narratives from previous research. Results suggest that event boundaries impact memory only under specific conditions.