TY - JOUR A1 - Höhle, Barbara A1 - Fritzsche, Tom A1 - Müller, Anja T1 - Children’s Comprehension of Sentences with Focus Particles and the Role of Cognitive Control BT - An Eye Tracking Study with German-Learning 4-Year-Olds JF - PLoS one N2 - Children’s interpretations of sentences containing focus particles do not seem adult-like until school age. This study investigates how German 4-year-old children comprehend sentences with the focus particle ‘nur’ (only) by using different tasks and controlling for the impact of general cognitive abilities on performance measures. Two sentence types with ‘only’ in either pre-subject or pre-object position were presented. Eye gaze data and verbal responses were collected via the visual world paradigm combined with a sentence-picture verification task. While the eye tracking data revealed an adult-like pattern of focus particle processing, the sentence-picture verification replicated previous findings of poor comprehension, especially for ‘only’ in pre-subject position. A second study focused on the impact of general cognitive abilities on the outcomes of the verification task. Working memory was related to children’s performance in both sentence types whereas inhibitory control was selectively related to the number of errors for sentences with ‘only’ in pre-subject position. These results suggest that children at the age of 4 years have the linguistic competence to correctly interpret sentences with focus particles, which–depending on specific task demands–may be masked by immature general cognitive abilities. KW - eyes KW - sentence processing KW - cognition KW - cognitive linguistics KW - human performance KW - syntax KW - cognitive psychology KW - working memory Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0149870 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 11 IS - 3 SP - 1 EP - 27 PB - PLoS CY - Lawrence, Kan. ER - TY - GEN A1 - Höhle, Barbara A1 - Fritzsche, Tom A1 - Müller, Anja T1 - Children’s Comprehension of Sentences with Focus Particles and the Role of Cognitive Control BT - An Eye Tracking Study with German-Learning 4-Year-Olds N2 - Children’s interpretations of sentences containing focus particles do not seem adult-like until school age. This study investigates how German 4-year-old children comprehend sentences with the focus particle ‘nur’ (only) by using different tasks and controlling for the impact of general cognitive abilities on performance measures. Two sentence types with ‘only’ in either pre-subject or pre-object position were presented. Eye gaze data and verbal responses were collected via the visual world paradigm combined with a sentence-picture verification task. While the eye tracking data revealed an adult-like pattern of focus particle processing, the sentence-picture verification replicated previous findings of poor comprehension, especially for ‘only’ in pre-subject position. A second study focused on the impact of general cognitive abilities on the outcomes of the verification task. Working memory was related to children’s performance in both sentence types whereas inhibitory control was selectively related to the number of errors for sentences with ‘only’ in pre-subject position. These results suggest that children at the age of 4 years have the linguistic competence to correctly interpret sentences with focus particles, which–depending on specific task demands–may be masked by immature general cognitive abilities. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 287 KW - cognition KW - cognitive linguistics KW - cognitive psychology KW - eyes KW - human performance KW - sentence processing KW - syntax KW - working memory Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-90524 ER - TY - THES A1 - Haendler, Yair T1 - Effects of embedded pronouns on relative clause processing T1 - Effekte eingebauter Pronomen auf Relativsatzverarbeitung BT - cross-linguistic evidence from children and adults BT - Hinweise zwischensprachlischer Daten von Kindern und Erwachsenen N2 - 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. N2 - Zahlreiche Studien haben gefunden, dass sowohl Erwachsene als auch Kinder über Sprachen hinweg größere Schwierigkeiten mit Objektrelativsätzen (ORS) als mit Subjektrelativsätzen (SRS) haben. Diese SRS-ORS-Asymmetrie wird reduziert oder sogar ausgelöscht, wenn das eingebaute Subjekt im ORS keine lexikalische Nominalphrase, sondern ein Pronomen ist. Die Experimente in dieser Dissertation erforschen unter welchen Umständen die Begünstigung des Pronomens geschieht; ob alle Pronomen denselben Effekt haben; ob SRS ebenso von eingebauten Pronomen beeinflusst werden; ob Erwachsene und Kinder in Bezug auf diese Strukturen eine ähnlich Leistung zeigen; und ob die Leistung von Versuchspersonen eine Verbindung mit kognitiven Fähigkeiten hat, wie zum Beispiel mit dem Arbeitsgedächtnis oder mit grammatikalischer Kenntnis. Verschiedene theoretische Rahmen, die die Pronomenvereinfachung in Relativsätzen erklären, werden evaluiert. Die Daten wurden in drei Sprachen–Deutsch, Italienisch und Hebräisch–mit Kindern und Erwachsenen erhoben. In der Studie auf Deutsch (Kapitel 2) werden ORS mit einem eingebauten Pronomen der ersten oder der dritten Person mit ORS verglichen, die eine eingebaute lexikalische Nominalphrase haben. Blickbewegungsdaten von 5-jährigen Kindern zeigen, dass das Pronomen der ersten Person die Satzverarbeitung vereinfacht, nicht jedoch das Pronomen der dritten Person. Die Performance von Kindern wird durch zusätzliche Effekte wie Gedächtnis und grammatikalische Fähigkeiten beeinflusst. In der Studie auf Italienisch (Kapitel 3) wird der Vereinfachungsvorteil des Pronomens der ersten Person, im Vergleich mit dem der dritten Person, in ORS und SRS, die eine ähnliche Wortstellung haben, untersucht. Blickbewegungsdaten von 5-jährigen Kindern und von einer Kontrollgruppe von Erwachsenen sowie Lesezeiten von Erwachsenen, werden mit dem Ergebnis einer Korpusanalyse verglichen. Sie zeigen denselben asymmetrischen Effekt der zwei Pronomen in beiden Relativsatztypen. In der Studie auf Hebräisch (Kapitel 4) war das Ziel, den Effekt eines besonderen Pronomens, nämlich eines nicht-referentiellen beliebigen Subjektspronomens, auf das Verständnis von ORS zu untersuchen, anhand methodischer Problematiken in vergangenen Studien, die dieses Pronomen verwendet haben. Daten von 4- und 5-jährigen Kindern, die eine Referentenerkennungsaufgabe gemacht haben, zeigen, dass mit kontrolliertem Versuchsmaterial das nicht-referentielle Pronomen nicht unbedingt das Verständnis von ORS erleichtert. Jedoch hatten die Kinder aber noch mehr Schwierigkeiten, wenn das eingebaute Pronomen ein referentielles Pronomen war. Die Asymmetrie zwischen nicht-referentiellen und referentiellen Pronomen wird durch die Verbindung zwischen der Performance in der experimentellen Aufgabe und den Gedächtnisfähigkeiten der Kinder hervorgehoben. In ihrer Gesamtheit zeigen die in dieser Arbeit präsentierten Daten, dass Sprachverarbeitung nicht nur durch strukturelle (oder syntaktische) Faktoren beeinträchtigt wird, sondern auch durch Diskurs-gebundene Faktoren, wie die referentiellen Eigenschaften von Pronomen oder den Mechanismus von Diskurszugänglichkeit (discourse accessibility). Diese wird definiert als das Leichtigkeits- oder Schwierigkeitslevel mit dem Referenten von Pronomen im Diskursmodell erkannt und abgerufen werden. Diese strukturellen und diskursgebundenen Faktoren, obwohl sie im Wesentlichen unabhängig voneinander sind, können in manchen Fällen aufeinander einwirken und zusammen die Sprachverarbeitung beeinträchtigen. Darüber hinaus scheinen beide Faktoren eine Verbindung mit dem Gedächtnis zu haben. Die Daten unterstützen auch die Idee, dass Kinder von früh an auf dieselben Faktoren empfindlich reagieren, die die Sprachverarbeitung von Erwachsenen bestimmen und dass die Sprachverarbeitungsstrategien von beiden Altersgruppen qualitativ ähnlich sind. Zusammengefasst weist diese Dissertation darauf hin, dass eine umfassende Theorie der menschlichen Sprachverarbeitung in der Lage sein sollte, Effekte zu erklären, die sowohl durch Satzstruktur als auch durch Diskurs bedingt werden und die in Abhängigkeit von Gedächtnisfähigkeit funktionieren. KW - relative clauses KW - pronouns KW - discourse KW - sentence processing KW - eye-tracking KW - language development KW - Relativsätze KW - Pronomen KW - Diskurs KW - Sprachverarbeitung KW - Blickbewegungen KW - Sprachentwicklung Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-396883 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Paape, Dario L. J. F. A1 - Vasishth, Shravan T1 - Local coherence and preemptive digging-in effects in German T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - SOPARSE predicts so-called local coherence effects: locally plausible but globally impossible parses of substrings can exert a distracting influence during sentence processing. Additionally, it predicts digging-in effects: the longer the parser stays committed to a particular analysis, the harder it becomes to inhibit that analysis. We investigated the interaction of these two predictions using German sentences. Results from a self-paced reading study show that the processing difficulty caused by a local coherence can be reduced by first allowing the globally correct parse to become entrenched, which supports SOPARSE’s assumptions. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 417 KW - local coherence KW - digging-in effects KW - self-paced reading KW - SOPARSE KW - sentence processing KW - German Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-405337 IS - 417 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Paape, Dario A1 - Vasishth, Shravan T1 - Local Coherence and Preemptive Digging-in Effects in German JF - Language and speech N2 - SOPARSE predicts so-called local coherence effects: locally plausible but globally impossible parses of substrings can exert a distracting influence during sentence processing. Additionally, it predicts digging-in effects: the longer the parser stays committed to a particular analysis, the harder it becomes to inhibit that analysis. We investigated the interaction of these two predictions using German sentences. Results from a self-paced reading study show that the processing difficulty caused by a local coherence can be reduced by first allowing the globally correct parse to become entrenched, which supports SOPARSE’s assumptions. KW - Local coherence KW - digging-in effects KW - self-paced reading KW - SOPARSE KW - sentence processing KW - German Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0023830915608410 SN - 0023-8309 SN - 1756-6053 VL - 59 SP - 387 EP - 403 PB - Sage Publ. CY - London ER - TY - GEN A1 - Patil, Umesh A1 - Vasishth, Shravan A1 - Lewis, Richard L. T1 - Retrieval interference in syntactic processing BT - the case of reflexive binding in english T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - It has been proposed that in online sentence comprehension the dependency between a reflexive pronoun such as himself/herself and its antecedent is resolved using exclusively syntactic constraints. Under this strictly syntactic search account, Principle A of the binding theory which requires that the antecedent c-command the reflexive within the same clause that the reflexive occurs in constrains the parser's search for an antecedent. The parser thus ignores candidate antecedents that might match agreement features of the reflexive (e.g., gender) but are ineligible as potential antecedents because they are in structurally illicit positions. An alternative possibility accords no special status to structural constraints: in addition to using Principle A, the parser also uses non-structural cues such as gender to access the antecedent. According to cue -based retrieval theories of memory (e.g., Lewis and Vasishth, 2005), the use of non-structural cues should result in increased retrieval times and occasional errors when candidates partially match the cues, even if the candidates are in structurally illicit positions. In this paper, we first show how the retrieval processes that underlie the reflexive binding are naturally realized in the Lewis and Vasishth (2005) model. We present the predictions of the model under the assumption that both structural and non-structural cues are used during retrieval, and provide a critical analysis of previous empirical studies that failed to find evidence for the use of non-structural cues, suggesting that these failures may be Type II errors. We use this analysis and the results of further modeling to motivate a new empirical design that we use in an eye tracking study. The results of this study confirm the key predictions of the model concerning the use of non-structural cues, and are inconsistent with the strictly syntactic search account. These results present a challenge for theories advocating the infallibility of the human parser in the case of reflexive resolution, and provide support for the inclusion of agreement features such as gender in the set of retrieval cues. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 493 KW - sentence processing KW - anaphor resolution KW - memory retrieval KW - interference KW - computational modeling KW - eye tracking Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-407987 SN - 1866-8364 IS - 493 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Patil, Umesh A1 - Vasishth, Shravan A1 - Lewis, Richard L. T1 - Retrieval Interference in Syntactic Processing: The Case of Reflexive Binding in English JF - Frontiers in psychology N2 - It has been proposed that in online sentence comprehension the dependency between a reflexive pronoun such as himself/herself and its antecedent is resolved using exclusively syntactic constraints. Under this strictly syntactic search account, Principle A of the binding theory—which requires that the antecedent c-command the reflexive within the same clause that the reflexive occurs in—constrains the parser's search for an antecedent. The parser thus ignores candidate antecedents that might match agreement features of the reflexive (e.g., gender) but are ineligible as potential antecedents because they are in structurally illicit positions. An alternative possibility accords no special status to structural constraints: in addition to using Principle A, the parser also uses non-structural cues such as gender to access the antecedent. According to cue-based retrieval theories of memory (e.g., Lewis and Vasishth, 2005), the use of non-structural cues should result in increased retrieval times and occasional errors when candidates partially match the cues, even if the candidates are in structurally illicit positions. In this paper, we first show how the retrieval processes that underlie the reflexive binding are naturally realized in the Lewis and Vasishth (2005) model. We present the predictions of the model under the assumption that both structural and non-structural cues are used during retrieval, and provide a critical analysis of previous empirical studies that failed to find evidence for the use of non-structural cues, suggesting that these failures may be Type II errors. We use this analysis and the results of further modeling to motivate a new empirical design that we use in an eye tracking study. The results of this study confirm the key predictions of the model concerning the use of non-structural cues, and are inconsistent with the strictly syntactic search account. These results present a challenge for theories advocating the infallibility of the human parser in the case of reflexive resolution, and provide support for the inclusion of agreement features such as gender in the set of retrieval cues. KW - sentence processing KW - anaphor resolution KW - memory retrieval KW - interference KW - computational modeling KW - eye tracking Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00329 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - THES A1 - Engelmann, Felix T1 - Toward an integrated model of sentence processing in reading T1 - Grundlage eines integrierten Modells der Satzverarbeitung beim Lesen N2 - In experiments investigating sentence processing, eye movement measures such as fixation durations and regression proportions while reading are commonly used to draw conclusions about processing difficulties. However, these measures are the result of an interaction of multiple cognitive levels and processing strategies and thus are only indirect indicators of processing difficulty. In order to properly interpret an eye movement response, one has to understand the underlying principles of adaptive processing such as trade-off mechanisms between reading speed and depth of comprehension that interact with task demands and individual differences. Therefore, it is necessary to establish explicit models of the respective mechanisms as well as their causal relationship with observable behavior. There are models of lexical processing and eye movement control on the one side and models on sentence parsing and memory processes on the other. However, no model so far combines both sides with explicitly defined linking assumptions. In this thesis, a model is developed that integrates oculomotor control with a parsing mechanism and a theory of cue-based memory retrieval. On the basis of previous empirical findings and independently motivated principles, adaptive, resource-preserving mechanisms of underspecification are proposed both on the level of memory access and on the level of syntactic parsing. The thesis first investigates the model of cue-based retrieval in sentence comprehension of Lewis & Vasishth (2005) with a comprehensive literature review and computational modeling of retrieval interference in dependency processing. The results reveal a great variability in the data that is not explained by the theory. Therefore, two principles, 'distractor prominence' and 'cue confusion', are proposed as an extension to the theory, thus providing a more adequate description of systematic variance in empirical results as a consequence of experimental design, linguistic environment, and individual differences. In the remainder of the thesis, four interfaces between parsing and eye movement control are defined: Time Out, Reanalysis, Underspecification, and Subvocalization. By comparing computationally derived predictions with experimental results from the literature, it is investigated to what extent these four interfaces constitute an appropriate elementary set of assumptions for explaining specific eye movement patterns during sentence processing. Through simulations, it is shown how this system of in itself simple assumptions results in predictions of complex, adaptive behavior. In conclusion, it is argued that, on all levels, the sentence comprehension mechanism seeks a balance between necessary processing effort and reading speed on the basis of experience, task demands, and resource limitations. Theories of linguistic processing therefore need to be explicitly defined and implemented, in particular with respect to linking assumptions between observable behavior and underlying cognitive processes. The comprehensive model developed here integrates multiple levels of sentence processing that hitherto have only been studied in isolation. The model is made publicly available as an expandable framework for future studies of the interactions between parsing, memory access, and eye movement control. N2 - In experimentellen Studien zur Satzverarbeitung werden für gewöhnlich Blickbewegungsmaße wie Fixationsdauern oder Regressionshäufigkeiten beim Lesen herangezogen, um auf Verarbeitungsschwierigkeiten zu schließen. Jedoch resultieren diese Signale aus der Interaktion mehrerer kognitiver Ebenen und Verarbeitungsstrategien und sind daher nur indirekte Indikatoren von Verarbeitungsschwierigkeit. Um ein Blickbewegungssignal richtig zu interpretieren, müssen die zugrundeliegenden Prinzipien adaptiver Verarbeitungsprozesse verstanden werden, wie zum Beispiel Ausgleichmechanismen zwischen Lesegeschwindigkeit und Verarbeitungstiefe, welche mit der gegenwärtigen Verarbeitungsanforderung und individuellen Unterschieden interagieren. Es ist daher notwendig, explizite Modelle dieser Mechanismen und ihrer kausalen Beziehung zu behavioralen Signalen wie Blickbewegungen zu etablieren. Es existieren Modelle der lexikalischen Verarbeitung und Blicksteuerung auf der einen Seite und Modelle der Satzverarbeitung und Gedächtnismechanismen auf der anderen. Jedoch existiert noch kein Modell, welches beide Seiten durch explizit formulierte Annahmen verbindet. In der vorliegenden Dissertation wird ein Modell entwickelt, welches Okulomotorik mit Satzverarbeitungsmechanismen und einer Theorie des assoziativen Gedächtniszugriffs integriert. Auf der Grundlage bisheriger empirischer Ergebnisse und unabhängig motivierter Prinzipien werden adaptive ressourcenschonende Mechanismen der Unterspezifikation sowohl auf der Ebene des Gedächtniszugriffs als auch auf der Ebene der syntaktischen Verarbeitung vorgeschlagen. Die Dissertation untersucht zunächst das Modell des assoziativen Gedächtniszugriffs bei der Satzverarbeitung von Lewis & Vasishth (2005) mithilfe eines umfassenden Literaturreviews sowie Computermodellierung von Interferenzeffekten im Gedächtniszugriff während der Verarbeitung syntaktischer Abhängigkeiten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen eine hohe Variabilität der Daten auf, die von der Theorie nicht erklärt werden kann. Daher werden zwei Prinzipien, ‘distractor prominence’ und ‘cue confusion’, als Erweiterung des Modells vorgeschlagen, wodurch eine genauere Vorhersage systematischer Varianz als Folge von Experimentaldesign, linguistischer Umgebung und individuellen Unterschieden erreicht wird. Im verbleibenden Teil der Dissertation werden vier Schnittstellen zwischen linguistischer Verarbeitung und Blicksteuerung definiert: Time Out, Reanalyse, Unterspezifikation und Subvokalisation. Durch Vergleich von computational hergeleiteten Vorhersagen und experimentellen Ergebnissen aus der Literatur wird der Frage nachgegangen, inwieweit diese vier Mechanismen ein angemessenes elementares System von Annahmen darstellen, welches spezifische Blickbewegungsmuster während der Satzverarbeitung erklären kann. Durch Simulationen wird gezeigt, wie dieses System aus für sich genommen simplen Annahmen im Ergebnis komplexes und adaptives Verhalten vorhersagt. In Konklusion wird argumentiert, dass der Satzverarbeitungsapparat auf allen Ebenen eine Balance zwischen notwendigem Verarbeitungsaufwand und Lesegeschwindigkeit auf der Basis von Erfahrung, Anforderung und limitierten Ressourcen anstrebt. Deshalb sollten Theorien der Sprachverarbeitung explizit formuliert und implementiert werden, insbesondere in Bezug auf die kausale Verbindung zwischen experimentell beobachtbarem Verhalten und den zugrundeliegenden kognitiven Prozessen. Das hier entwickelte Modell integriert mehrere Ebenen der Satzverarbeitung, die bisher ausschließlich unabhängig voneinander untersucht wurden. Das Modell steht öffentlich als erweiterungsfähiges Framework für zukünftige Studien der Interaktion zwischen Sprachverarbeitung, Gedächtniszugriff und Blickbewegung zur Verfügung. KW - working memory KW - sentence processing KW - cue confusion KW - cognitive modeling KW - psycholinguistics KW - eye movement control KW - ACT-R KW - cue-based retrieval KW - underspecification KW - dependency resolution KW - Satzverarbeitung KW - Arbeitsgedächtnis KW - Blickbewegungen KW - kognitive Modellierung KW - Lesen KW - reading KW - Unterspezifikation KW - retrieval interference KW - adaptive processing KW - adaptive Verarbeitung Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-100864 ER -