15 Jan
2026
15 Jan
'26
12:30 p.m.
Dear All,
The CEU Department of Cognitive Science cordially invites you to the following talk:
Anna Papafragou<https://www.langcoglab.com/current-lab-members>rs>, Language and
Cognition Lab, University of Pennsylvania
Dynamic events in mind and language
Humans are surprisingly adept at interpreting what is happening around them and organizing
this information in terms of dynamic events. Furthermore, across human communities,
language is used to describe the events that we experience. But what, exactly, is an
event? In this talk, I propose a theory of eventhood that combines insights from
logico-philosophical analysis, cognitive psychology and linguistic theory. On this theory,
the representational units of events in cognition rely on abstract underlying structure,
including temporal boundaries. In that sense, events are similar to objects (since objects
also involve abstract structure, including spatial boundaries). This proposal predicts
systematic patterns in the way people spontaneously perceive unfolding events. It also
explains otherwise mysterious similarities in how events and objects behave as cognitive
entities. Finally, this proposal naturally accounts for the existence of a homology
between the cognitive and linguistic structure of events. This framework opens up exciting
possibilities for future research on how people represent, remember and talk about what
happens.
Date and time: Wednesday, 21st January 2026, 16:00
Venue: QS D-001 Tiered
Zoom: https://ceu-edu.zoom.us/j/99674461408?pwd=OUeclRFRsjmIJRKeMivXHse68syPdH.1
Meeting ID: 996 7446 1408
Passcode: 075444
Host: Eva Wittenberg
*Anyone not affiliated with CEU wishing to attend in-person in Vienna must RSVP to get
access to the lecture hall.
Best regards,
Andi
______________________________________________
Subscribe by sending an empty mail to talks-subscribe(a)cogsci.ceu.edu
Unsubscribe by sending an empty mail to talks-unsubscribe(a)cogsci.ceu.edu