@article{StoneVerissimoSchadetal.2021, author = {Stone, Kate and Verissimo, Joao and Schad, Daniel J. and Oltrogge, Elise and Vasishth, Shravan and Lago, Sol}, title = {The interaction of grammatically distinct agreement dependencies in predictive processing}, series = {Language, cognition and neuroscience}, volume = {36}, journal = {Language, cognition and neuroscience}, number = {9}, publisher = {Routledge, Taylor \& Francis Group}, address = {Abingdon}, issn = {2327-3798}, doi = {10.1080/23273798.2021.1921816}, pages = {1159 -- 1179}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Previous research has found that comprehenders sometimes predict information that is grammatically unlicensed by sentence constraints. An open question is why such grammatically unlicensed predictions occur. We examined the possibility that unlicensed predictions arise in situations of information conflict, for instance when comprehenders try to predict upcoming words while simultaneously building dependencies with previously encountered elements in memory. German possessive pronouns are a good testing ground for this hypothesis because they encode two grammatically distinct agreement dependencies: a retrospective one between the possessive and its previously mentioned referent, and a prospective one between the possessive and its following nominal head. In two visual world eye-tracking experiments, we estimated the onset of predictive effects in participants' fixations. The results showed that the retrospective dependency affected resolution of the prospective dependency by shifting the onset of predictive effects. We attribute this effect to an interaction between predictive and memory retrieval processes.}, language = {en} } @article{FelserJessen2021, author = {Felser, Claudia and Jessen, Anna}, title = {Correlative coordination and variable subject-verb agreement in German}, series = {Languages : open access journal}, volume = {6}, journal = {Languages : open access journal}, number = {2}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, issn = {2226-471X}, doi = {10.3390/languages6020067}, pages = {20}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Coordinated subjects often show variable number agreement with the finite verb, but linguistic approaches to this phenomenon have rarely been informed by systematically collected data. We report the results from three experiments investigating German speakers' agreement preferences with complex subjects joined by the correlative conjunctions sowohl horizontal ellipsis als auch ('both horizontal ellipsis and'), weder horizontal ellipsis noch ('neither horizontal ellipsis nor') or entweder horizontal ellipsis oder ('either horizontal ellipsis or'). We examine to what extent conjunction type and a conjunct's relative proximity to the verb affect the acceptability and processibility of singular vs. plural agreement. Experiment 1 was an untimed acceptability rating task, Experiment 2 a timed sentence completion task, and Experiment 3 was a self-paced reading task. Taken together, our results show that number agreement with correlative coordination in German is primarily determined by a default constraint triggering plural agreement, which interacts with linear order and semantic factors. Semantic differences between conjunctions only affected speakers' agreement preferences in the absence of processing pressure but not their initial agreement computation. The combined results from our offline and online experimental measures of German speakers' agreement preferences suggest that the constraints under investigation do not only differ in their relative weighting but also in their relative timing during agreement computation.}, language = {en} } @article{WestphalVockKretschmann2021, author = {Westphal, Andrea and Vock, Miriam and Kretschmann, Julia}, title = {Unravelling the relationship between teacher-assigned grades, student personality, and standardized test scores}, series = {Frontiers in psychology / Frontiers Research Foundation}, journal = {Frontiers in psychology / Frontiers Research Foundation}, number = {12}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2021.627440}, pages = {11}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The Big Five personality traits play a major role in student achievement. As such, there is consistent evidence that students that are more conscientious receive better teacher-assigned grades in secondary school. However, research often does not support the claim that students that are more conscientious similarly achieve higher scores in domain-specific standardized achievement tests. Based on the Invest-and-Accrue Model, we argue that conscientiousness explains to some extent why certain students receive better grades despite similar academic accomplishments (i.e., achieving similar scores in domain-specific standardized achievement tests). Therefore, the present study examines to what extent the relationship between student personality and teacher-assigned grades consists of direct as opposed to indirect associations (via subject-specific standardized test scores). We used a representative sample of 14,710 ninth-grade students to estimate these direct and indirect pathways in mathematics and German. Structural equation models showed that test scores explained between 8 and 11\% of the variance in teacher-assigned grades in mathematics and German. The Big Five personality traits in students additionally explained between 8 and 10\% of the variance in grades. Finally, the personality-grade relationship consisted of direct (0.02 | β| ≤ 0.27) and indirect associations via test scores (0.01 | β| ≤ 0.07). Conscientiousness explained discrepancies between teacher-assigned grades and students' scores in domain-specific standardized tests to a greater extent than any of the other Big Five personality traits. Our findings suggest that students that are more conscientious may invest more effort to accomplish classroom goals, but fall short of mastery.}, language = {en} } @misc{WestphalVockKretschmann2021, author = {Westphal, Andrea and Vock, Miriam and Kretschmann, Julia}, title = {Unravelling the relationship between teacher-assigned grades, student personality, and standardized test scores}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {12}, issn = {1866-8364}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-52302}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-523024}, pages = {13}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The Big Five personality traits play a major role in student achievement. As such, there is consistent evidence that students that are more conscientious receive better teacher-assigned grades in secondary school. However, research often does not support the claim that students that are more conscientious similarly achieve higher scores in domain-specific standardized achievement tests. Based on the Invest-and-Accrue Model, we argue that conscientiousness explains to some extent why certain students receive better grades despite similar academic accomplishments (i.e., achieving similar scores in domain-specific standardized achievement tests). Therefore, the present study examines to what extent the relationship between student personality and teacher-assigned grades consists of direct as opposed to indirect associations (via subject-specific standardized test scores). We used a representative sample of 14,710 ninth-grade students to estimate these direct and indirect pathways in mathematics and German. Structural equation models showed that test scores explained between 8 and 11\% of the variance in teacher-assigned grades in mathematics and German. The Big Five personality traits in students additionally explained between 8 and 10\% of the variance in grades. Finally, the personality-grade relationship consisted of direct (0.02 | β| ≤ 0.27) and indirect associations via test scores (0.01 | β| ≤ 0.07). Conscientiousness explained discrepancies between teacher-assigned grades and students' scores in domain-specific standardized tests to a greater extent than any of the other Big Five personality traits. Our findings suggest that students that are more conscientious may invest more effort to accomplish classroom goals, but fall short of mastery.}, language = {en} } @misc{GrubicWierzba2021, author = {Grubic, Mira and Wierzba, Marta}, title = {The German additive particle noch}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {709}, issn = {1866-8364}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-51004}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-510049}, pages = {29}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The particle noch ('still') can have an additive reading similar to auch ('also'). We argue that both particles indicate that a previously partially answered QUD is re-opened to add a further answer. The particles differ in that the QUD, in the case of auch, can be re-opened with respect to the same topic situation, whereas noch indicates that the QUD is re-opened with respect to a new topic situation. This account predicts a difference in the accommodation behavior of the two particles. We present an experiment whose results are in line with this prediction.}, language = {en} } @article{GrubicWierzba2021, author = {Grubic, Mira and Wierzba, Marta}, title = {The German additive particle noch}, series = {Glossa : a journal of general linguistics}, volume = {6}, journal = {Glossa : a journal of general linguistics}, number = {1}, publisher = {Ubiquity Press}, address = {London}, issn = {2397-1835}, doi = {10.5334/gjgl.1275}, pages = {29}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The particle noch ('still') can have an additive reading similar to auch ('also'). We argue that both particles indicate that a previously partially answered QUD is re-opened to add a further answer. The particles differ in that the QUD, in the case of auch, can be re-opened with respect to the same topic situation, whereas noch indicates that the QUD is re-opened with respect to a new topic situation. This account predicts a difference in the accommodation behavior of the two particles. We present an experiment whose results are in line with this prediction.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Rettig2021, author = {Rettig, Anja}, title = {Learning to read in German}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {XXIII, 231, LXXX}, year = {2021}, abstract = {In the present dissertation, the development of eye movement behavior and the perceptual span of German beginning readers was investigated in Grades 1 to 3 (Study 1) and longitudinally within a one-year time interval (Study 2), as well as in relation to intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation (Study 3). The presented results are intended to fill the gap of only sparse information on young readers' eye movements and completely missing information on German young readers' perceptual span and its development. On the other hand, reading motivation data have been scrutinized with respect to reciprocal effects on reading comprehension but not with respect to more immediate, basic cognitive processing (e.g., word decoding) that is indicated by different eye movement measures. Based on a longitudinal study design, children in Grades 1-3 participated in a moving window reading experiment with eye movement recordings in two successive years. All children were participants of a larger longitudinal study on intrapersonal developmental risk factors in childhood and adolescence (PIER study). Motivation data and other psychometric reading data were collected during individual inquiries and tests at school. Data analyses were realized in three separate studies that focused on different but related aspects of reading and perceptual span development. Study 1 presents the first cross-sectional report on the perceptual span of beginning German readers. The focus was on reading rate changes in Grades 1 to 3 and on the issue of the onset of the perceptual span development and its dependence on basic foveal reading processes. Study 2 presents a successor of Study 1 providing first longitudinal data of the perceptual span in elementary school children. It also includes information on the stability of observed and predicted reading rates and perceptual span sizes and introduces a new measure of the perceptual span based on nonlinear mixed-effects models. Another issue addressed in this study is the longitudinal between-group comparison of slower and faster readers which refers to the detection of developmental patterns. Study 3 includes longitudinal reading motivation data and investigates the relation between different eye movement measures including perceptual span and intrinsic as well as extrinsic reading motivation. In Study 1, a decelerated increase in reading rate was observed between Grades 1 to 3. Grade effects were also reported for saccade length, refixation probability, and different fixation duration measures. With higher grade, mean saccade length increased, whereas refixation probability, first-fixation duration, gaze duration, and total reading time decreased. Perceptual span development was indicated by an increase in window size effects with grade level. Grade level differences with respect to window size effects were stronger between Grades 2 and 3 than between Grades 1 and 2. These results were replicated longitudinally in Study 2. Again, perceptual span size significantly changed between Grades 2 and 3, but not between Grades 1 and 2 or Grades 3 and 4. Observed and predicted reading rates were found to be highly stable after first grade, whereas stability of perceptual span was only moderate for all grade levels. Group differences between slower and faster readers in Year 1 remained observable in Year 2 showing a pattern of stable achievement differences rather than a compensatory pattern. Between Grades 2 and 3, between-group differences in reading rate even increased resulting in a Matthew effect. A similar effect was observed for perceptual span development between Grades 3 and 4. Finally, in Study 3, significant relations between beginning readers' eye movements and their reading motivation were observed. In both years of measurement, higher intrinsic reading motivation was related to more skilled eye movement patterns as indicated by short fixations, longer saccades, and higher reading rates. In Year 2, intrinsic reading motivation was also significantly and negatively correlated with refixation probability. These correlational patterns were confirmed in cross-sectional linear models controlling for grade level and reading amount and including both reading motivation measures, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. While there were significant positive relations between intrinsic reading motivation and word decoding as indicated by the above stated eye movement measures, extrinsic reading motivation only predicted variance in eye movements in Year 2 (significant for fixation durations and reading rate), with a consistently opposite pattern of effects as compared to intrinsic reading motivation. Finally, longitudinal effects of Year 1 intrinsic reading motivation on Year 2 word decoding were observed for gaze duration, total reading time, refixation probability, and perceptual span within cross-lagged panel models. These effects were reciprocal because all eye movement measures significantly predicted variance in intrinsic reading motivation. Extrinsic reading motivation in Year 1 did not affect any eye movement measure in Year 2, and vice versa, except for a significant, negative relation with perceptual span. Concluding, the present dissertation demonstrates that largest gains in reading development in terms of eye movement changes are observable between Grades 1 and 2. Together with the observed pattern of stable differences between slower and faster readers and a widening achievement gap between Grades 2 and 3 for reading rate, these results underline the importance of the first year(s) of formal reading instruction. The development of the perceptual span lags behind as it is most apparent between Grades 2 and 3. This suggests that efficient parafoveal processing presupposes a certain degree of foveal reading proficiency (e.g., word decoding). Finally, this dissertation demonstrates that intrinsic reading motivation—but not extrinsic motivation—effectively supports the development of skilled reading.}, language = {en} }