@phdthesis{Wittenberg2016, author = {Wittenberg, Eva}, title = {With Light Verb Constructions from Syntax to Concepts}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam}, address = {Potsdam}, isbn = {978-3-86956-329-9}, issn = {2190-4545}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-82361}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {ii, 139}, year = {2016}, abstract = {This dissertation uses a common grammatical phenomenon, light verb constructions (LVCs) in English and German, to investigate how syntax-semantics mapping defaults influence the relationships between language processing, representation and conceptualization. LVCs are analyzed as a phenomenon of mismatch in the argument structure. The processing implication of this mismatch are experimentally investigated, using ERPs and a dual task. Data from these experiments point to an increase in working memory. Representational questions are investigated using structural priming. Data from this study suggest that while the syntax of LVCs is not different from other structures', the semantics and mapping are represented differently. This hypothesis is tested with a new categorization paradigm, which reveals that the conceptual structure that LVC evoke differ in interesting, and predictable, ways from non-mismatching structures'.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Haendler2016, author = {Haendler, Yair}, title = {Effects of embedded pronouns on relative clause processing}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-396883}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {xvi, 186}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Difficulties with object relative clauses (ORC), as compared to subject relative clauses (SR), are widely attested across different languages, both in adults and in children. This SR-ORC asymmetry is reduced, or even eliminated, when the embedded constituent in the ORC is a pronoun, rather than a lexical noun phrase. The studies included in this thesis were designed to explore under what circumstances the pronoun facilitation occurs; whether all pronouns have the same effect; whether SRs are also affected by embedded pronouns; whether children perform like adults on such structures; and whether performance is related to cognitive abilities such as memory or grammatical knowledge. Several theoretical approaches that explain the pronoun facilitation in relative clauses are evaluated. The experimental data have been collected in three languages-German, Italian and Hebrew-stemming from both children and adults. In the German study (Chapter 2), ORCs with embedded 1st- or 3rd-person pronouns are compared to ORCs with an embedded lexical noun phrase. Eye-movement data from 5-year-old children show that the 1st-person pronoun facilitates processing, but not the 3rd-person pronoun. Moreover, children's performance is modulated by additive effects of their memory and grammatical skills. In the Italian study (Chapter 3), the 1st-person pronoun advantage over the 3rd-person pronoun is tested in ORCs and SRs that display a similar word order. Eye-movement data from 5-year-olds and adult controls and reading times data from adults are pitted against the outcome of a corpus analysis, showing that the 1st-/3rd-person pronoun asymmetry emerges in the two relative clause types to an equal extent. In the Hebrew study (Chapter 4), the goal is to test the effect of a special kind of pronoun-a non-referential arbitrary subject pronoun-on ORC comprehension, in the light of potential confounds in previous studies that used this pronoun. Data from a referent-identification task with 4- to 5-year-olds indicate that, when the experimental material is controlled, the non-referential pronoun does not necessarily facilitate ORC comprehension. Importantly, however, children have even more difficulties when the embedded constituent is a referential pronoun. The non-referentiality / referentiality asymmetry is emphasized by the relation between children's performance on the experimental task and their memory skills. Together, the data presented in this thesis indicate that sentence processing is not only driven by structural (or syntactic) factors, but also by discourse-related ones, like pronouns' referential properties or their discourse accessibility mechanism, which is defined as the level of ease or difficulty with which referents of pronouns are identified and retrieved from the discourse model. Although independent in essence, these structural and discourse factors can in some cases interact in a way that affects sentence processing. Moreover, both types of factors appear to be strongly related to memory. The data also support the idea that, from early on, children are sensitive to the same factors that affect adults' sentence processing, and that the processing strategies of both populations are qualitatively similar. In sum, this thesis suggests that a comprehensive theory of human sentence processing needs to account for effects that are due to both structural and discourse-related factors, which operate as a function of memory capacity.}, language = {en} } @misc{CorstenGuentherNieslonyetal.2016, author = {Corsten, Sabine and G{\"u}nther, Thomas and Nieslony, Julia and Fl{\"o}ther, Manfred and Rott, Anke and Sch{\"o}ppe, Doreen and K{\"o}sterke-Buchardt, Antje and Machleb, Franziska and Purat, Patricia and Euler, Harald A. and Breitenstein, Sarah and D{\"u}sterh{\"o}ft, Stefanie and Posse, Dorothea and Topaj, Nathalie and Golcher, Felix and Gagarina, Natalʹja Vladimirovna and Stegenwallner-Sch{\"u}tz, Maja Henny Katherine and Lassotta, Romy and Ferchland, Lisa and Adani, Flavia and Wotschack, Christiane and Klassert, Annegret and Festman, Julia and Schumacher, Rebecca and Burchert, Frank and Ablinger, Irene and Buttler, Rahel and Frank, Luis and Stadie, Nicole and Weiland, Linda and Netzebandt, Jonka and Frank, Ulrike and Bykova, Ksenia and Loppnow, Anna and Huckabee, Maggie-Lee and Krusche, Lisa}, title = {Spektrum Patholinguistik Band 9. Schwerpunktthema: Lauter Laute: Phonologische Verarbeitung und Lautwahrnehmung in der Sprachtherapie}, series = {Spektrum Patholinguistik}, journal = {Spektrum Patholinguistik}, editor = {Fritzsche, Tom and Yetim, {\"O}zlem and Otto, Constanze and Adelt, Anne}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam}, address = {Potsdam}, isbn = {978-3-86956-385-5}, issn = {1866-9085}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-9665}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-96653}, pages = {vi, 269}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Das 9. Herbsttreffen Patholinguistik mit dem Schwerpunktthema "Lauter Laute: Phonologische Verarbeitung und Lautwahrnehmung in der Sprachtherapie" fand am 14.11.2015 in Potsdam statt. Das Herbsttreffen wird seit 2007 j{\"a}hrlich vom Verband f{\"u}r Patholinguistik e.V. (vpl) durchgef{\"u}hrt. Der vorliegende Tagungsband beinhaltet die vier Hauptvortr{\"a}ge zum Schwerpunktthema, die drei Kurzvortr{\"a}ge aus dem Spektrum Patholinguisitk sowie die Beitr{\"a}ge der Posterpr{\"a}sentationen zu weiteren Themen aus der sprachtherapeutischen Forschung und Praxis.}, language = {de} }