@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} } @article{SixtusFischerLindemann2017, author = {Sixtus, Elena and Fischer, Martin H. and Lindemann, Oliver}, title = {Finger posing primes number comprehension}, series = {Cognitive processing : international quarterly of cognitive science}, volume = {18}, journal = {Cognitive processing : international quarterly of cognitive science}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Heidelberg}, issn = {1612-4782}, doi = {10.1007/s10339-017-0804-y}, pages = {237 -- 248}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Canonical finger postures, as used in counting, activate number knowledge, but the exact mechanism for this priming effect is unclear. Here we dissociated effects of visual versus motor priming of number concepts. In Experiment 1, participants were exposed either to pictures of canonical finger postures (visual priming) or actively produced the same finger postures (motor priming) and then used foot responses to rapidly classify auditory numbers (targets) as smaller or larger than 5. Classification times revealed that manually adopted but not visually perceived postures primed magnitude classifications. Experiment 2 obtained motor priming of number processing through finger postures also with vocal responses. Priming only occurred through canonical and not through non-canonical finger postures. Together, these results provide clear evidence for motor priming of number knowledge. Relative contributions of vision and action for embodied numerical cognition and the importance of canonicity of postures are discussed.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Jovanovic2018, author = {Jovanovic, Nenad}, title = {The comprehension of the passive voice by different populations and the effects of structural priming on this process}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-47590}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-475900}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {viii, 164}, year = {2018}, abstract = {This thesis investigates the comprehension of the passive voice in three distinct populations. First, the comprehension of passives by adult German speakers was studied, followed by an examination of how German-speaking children comprehend the structure. Finally, bilingual Mandarin-English speakers were tested on their comprehension of the passive voice in English, which is their L2. An integral part of testing the comprehension in all three populations is the use of structural priming. In each of the three distinct parts of the research, structural priming was used for a specific reason. In the study involving adult German speakers, productive and receptive structural priming was directly compared. The goal was to see the effect the two priming modalities have on language comprehension. In the study on German-acquiring children, structural priming was an important tool in answering the question regarding the delayed acquisition of the passive voice. Finally, in the study on the bilingual population, cross-linguistic priming was used to investigate the importance of word order in the priming effect, since Mandarin and English have different word orders in passive voice sentences.}, language = {en} } @article{CzerwonHohlfeldWieseetal.2013, author = {Czerwon, Beate and Hohlfeld, Annette and Wiese, Heike and Werheid, Katja}, title = {Syntactic structural parallelisms influence processing of positive stimuli evidence from cross-modal ERP priming}, series = {International journal of psychophysiology}, volume = {87}, journal = {International journal of psychophysiology}, number = {1}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0167-8760}, doi = {10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2012.10.014}, pages = {28 -- 34}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Language can strongly influence the emotional state of the recipient. In contrast to the broad body of experimental and neuroscientific research on semantic information and prosodic speech, the emotional impact of grammatical structure has rarely been investigated. One reason for this might be, that measuring effects of syntactic structure involves the use of complex stimuli, for which the emotional impact of grammar is difficult to isolate. In the present experiment we examined the emotional impact of structural parallelisms, that is, repetitions of syntactic features, on the emotion-sensitive "late positive potential" (LPP) with a cross-modal priming paradigm. Primes were auditory presented nonsense sentences which included grammatical-syntactic parallelisms. Visual targets were positive, neutral, and negative faces, to be classified as emotional or non-emotional by the participants. Electrophysiology revealed diminished LPP amplitudes for positive faces following parallel primes. Thus, our findings suggest that grammatical structure creates an emotional context that facilitates processing of positive emotional information.}, language = {en} } @misc{Baeurle2017, author = {B{\"a}urle, Isabel}, title = {Can't remember to forget you}, series = {Seminars in cell \& developmental biology}, volume = {83}, journal = {Seminars in cell \& developmental biology}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {London}, issn = {1084-9521}, doi = {10.1016/j.semcdb.2017.09.032}, pages = {133 -- 139}, year = {2017}, abstract = {In nature plants are exposed to frequent changes in their abiotic and biotic environment. While some environmental cues are used to gauge the environment and align growth and development, others are beyond the regularly encountered spectrum of a species and trigger stress responses. Such stressful conditions provide a potential threat to survival and integrity. Plants adapt to extreme environmental conditions through physiological adaptations that are usually transient and are maintained until stressful environments subside. It is increasingly appreciated that in some cases environmental cues activate a stress memory that persists for some time after the extreme condition has subsided. Recent research has shown that this stress-induced environmental memory is mediated by epigenetic and chromatin-based mechanisms and both histone methylation and nucleosome occupancy are associated with it.}, language = {en} }