We offer a new account of event representation based on those aspects of object representation that encode an object’s history, and which convey the distinct states that an object has experienced across time—minimally reflecting the before and after of whatever changes the object undergoes as an event unfolds. Our intention is to account for the content of event representations. For an event that can be described as “the chef chopped the onion,” the event as a whole is defined by the changes in state and location, across time, of the onion, the chef, and any instruments that (might have) mediated the interaction between the chef and the onion. Thus, we maintain that events are encoded as “ensembles of intersecting object histories” in which one or more objects change state. Our approach requires not just the distinction between object types and object tokens, but also between tokens and token-states (e.g., between that specific onion and its different states before, during, and after the chopping). These distinctions require an account of how object tokens are represented within the context of episodic and semantic memory, and how distinct object states are bound into a single object identity. We shall argue that the theoretical pieces, and their neural instantiation, are in place to develop a unified account of event representation in which such representation is simply a consequence of the mechanism for generating object tokens, their histories, and the binding of one to the other.

We link cleansing effects to contemporary cognitive theories via an account of event representation (intersecting object histories) that provides an explicit, neurally plausible mechanism for encoding objects (e.g., the self) and their associations (with other entities) across time. It explains separation as resulting from weakening associations between the self in the present and the self in the past.

Some words have more than one translation across languages. Such translation-ambiguous words are harder to learn, recognize, and produce for individuals across the language learning spectrum. Past research demonstrates that learning both translations of translation-ambiguous words on consecutive trials confers an accuracy advantage relative to learning them on separate sessions. We tested the proposal that presenting the two translations of translation-ambiguous words simultaneously on the screen could facilitate the formation of a more integrated mapping, because this would enable learners to make direct comparisons between them, whether implicitly or explicitly. We predicted that this facilitation would especially hold for translation-ambiguous words with related translations. Fifty native English speakers learned 48 German words with one or two translations that varied in the meaning similarity of their translations. Paired associate training took place on a Monday, and a first language (L1) to second language (L2) translation production test took place on Wednesday and Friday. Generally, higher translation similarity facilitated translation speed. In accuracy, training condition interacted with the similarity of the translations; translation accuracy was more affected by translation similarity in the simultaneous condition and went up as similarity increased. Overall, the consecutive condition demonstrated higher accuracy and faster reaction times than the simultaneous training condition, suggesting that learners may have been unable to successfully divide their study time between multiple words on the screen without explicit instruction.