TY - JOUR
A1 - Aktas, Berfin
A1 - Stede, Manfred
T1 - Anaphoric distance in oral and written language
BT - Experimental evidence
JF - Discours : revue de linguistique, psycholinguistique et informatique
N2 - We investigate the variation in oral and written language in terms of anaphoric distance (i.e., the textual distance between anaphors and their antecedents), expanding corpus-based research with experimental evidence.
Contrastive corpus studies demonstrate that oral genres include longer average anaphoric distance than written genres, if the distance is measured in terms of clauses (Fox, 1987; Aktas & Stede, 2020).
We designed an experiment in order to examine the contrasts in oral and written mediums, using the same genre.
We aim to gain more insight about the impact of the medium, in a situation where both mediums convey a similar level of spontaneity, informality and interactivity. We designed a story continuation study, where the participants are recruited via crowdsourcing.
To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind, where anaphoric distance is manipulated systematically in a language production experiment in order to examine medium distinctions.
We observed that participants use more pronouns in oral medium than in written medium if the anaphoric distance is long.
This result is in line with the implications of the earlier corpus-based research. In addition, our results indicate that anaphoric distance has a larger effect in referential choice for the written medium.
KW - anaphora
KW - anaphoric distance
KW - referential choice
KW - production medium
KW - oral
KW - written
KW - story continuation
KW - crowdsourcing
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.4000/discours.12383
SN - 1963-1723
IS - 31
PB - Université de Paris-Sorbonne, Maion Recherche
CY - Paris
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Ziubanova, Anastasia A.
A1 - Laurinavichyute, Anna
A1 - Parshina, Olga
T1 - Does early exposure to spoken and sign language affect reading fluency in deaf and hard-of-hearing adult signers?
JF - Frontiers in psychology
N2 - Introduction Early linguistic background, and in particular, access to language, lays the foundation of future reading skills in deaf and hard-of-hearing signers. The current study aims to estimate the impact of two factors – early access to sign and/or spoken language – on reading fluency in deaf and hard-of-hearing adult Russian Sign Language speakers.
Methods In the eye-tracking experiment, 26 deaf and 14 hard-of-hearing native Russian Sign Language speakers read 144 sentences from the Russian Sentence Corpus. Analysis of global eye-movement trajectories (scanpaths) was used to identify clusters of typical reading trajectories. The role of early access to sign and spoken language as well as vocabulary size as predictors of the more fluent reading pattern was tested.
Results Hard-of-hearing signers with early access to sign language read more fluently than those who were exposed to sign language later in life or deaf signers without access to speech sounds. No association between early access to spoken language and reading fluency was found.
Discussion Our results suggest a unique advantage for the hard-of-hearing individuals from having early access to both sign and spoken language and support the existing claims that early exposure to sign language is beneficial not only for deaf but also for hard-of-hearing children.
KW - reading fluency
KW - deaf
KW - hard-of-hearing
KW - sign language
KW - multimodal bilingualism
KW - scanpaths
KW - eye movements
Y1 - 2023
U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1145638
SN - 1664-1078
VL - 14
PB - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY - Lausanne
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Heide, Judith
A1 - Netzebandt, Jonka
A1 - Ahrens, Stine
A1 - Brüsch, Julia
A1 - Saalfrank, Teresa
A1 - Schmitz-Antonischki, Dorit
T1 - Improving lexical retrieval with LingoTalk
BT - an app-based, self-administered treatment for clients with aphasia
JF - Frontiers in communication
N2 - Introduction LingoTalk is a German speech-language app designed to enhance lexical retrieval in individuals with aphasia. It incorporates automatic speech recognition (ASR) to provide therapist-independent feedback. The execution and effectiveness of a self-administered intervention with LingoTalk was explored in a case series study.
Methods Three individuals with chronic aphasia participated in a highly individualized, supervised self-administered intervention lasting 3 weeks. The LingoTalk app closely monitored the frequency, intensity and progress of the intervention. Treatment efficacy was assessed using a multiple baseline design, examining both item-specific treatment effects and generalization to untreated items, an untreated task, and spontaneous speech.
Results All participants successfully completed the intervention with LingoTalk, although one participant was not able to use the ASR feature. None of the participants fully adhered to the treatment protocol. All participants demonstrated significant and sustained improvement in the naming of practiced items, although there was limited evidence of generalization. Additionally, there was a slight reduction in word-finding difficulties during spontaneous speech.
Discussion This small-scale study indicates that self-administered intervention with LingoTalk can improve oral naming of treated items. Thus, it has the potential to complement face-to-face speech-language therapy, such as within in a “flipped speech room” approach. The choice of feedback mode is discussed. Transparent progress monitoring of the intervention appears to positively influence patients' motivation.
KW - aphasi
KW - anomia
KW - lexical retrieva
KW - oral naming
KW - app-based intervention
KW - self-training
KW - automatic speech recognition (ASR)
KW - LingoTalk
Y1 - 2023
U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2023.1210193
SN - 2297-900X
VL - 8
PB - Frontiers Media
CY - Lausanne
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Rossetto, Alessia
A1 - Toraldo, Alessio
A1 - Laratta, Stefania
A1 - Tonin, Paolo
A1 - Poletto, Cecilia
A1 - Bencini, Giulia
A1 - Semenza, Carlo
T1 - Linguistic structure modulates attention in reading: evidence from negative concord in Italian
JF - Cognitive neuropsychology
N2 - We report the reading performance of an Italian speaker with egocentric Neglect Dyslexia on sentences with Negative Concord structures, which contain a linguistic cue to the presence of a preceding negative marker and compare it to sentences with no such cue. As predicted, the frequency of reading the whole sentence, including the initial negative marker non, was higher in Negative Concord structures than in sentences which also started with non, but crucially, lacked the medially positioned linguistic cue to the presence of non.
These data support the claim that the presence of linguistic cues to sentence structure modulates attention during reading in Neglect Dyslexia.
KW - neglect dyslexia
KW - syntax
KW - negative concord
KW - Italian
KW - unilateral neglect
KW - visual attention
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/02643294.2023.2199918
SN - 0264-3294
SN - 1464-0627
VL - 39
IS - 5-8
SP - 356
EP - 374
PB - Taylor & Francis
CY - London [u.a.]
ER -
TY - THES
A1 - Pregla, Andreas
T1 - Word order variability in OV languages
T1 - Wortstellungsvariabilität in verbfinalen Sprachen
BT - a study on scrambling, verb movement, and postverbal elements with a focus on Uralic languages
BT - eine Untersuchung von Scrambling, Verbbewegung und postverbalen Elementen mit besonderem Augenmerk auf die uralischen Sprachen
N2 - This thesis explores word order variability in verb-final languages. Verb-final languages have a reputation for a high amount of word order variability. However, that reputation amounts to an urban myth due to a lack of systematic investigation. This thesis provides such a systematic investigation by presenting original data from several verb-final languages with a focus on four Uralic ones: Estonian, Udmurt, Meadow Mari, and South Sámi. As with every urban myth, there is a kernel of truth in that many unrelated verb-final languages share a particular kind of word order variability, A-scrambling, in which the fronted elements do not receive a special information-structural role, such as topic or contrastive focus. That word order variability goes hand in hand with placing focussed phrases further to the right in the position directly in front of the verb. Variations on this pattern are exemplified by Uyghur, Standard Dargwa, Eastern Armenian, and three of the Uralic languages, Estonian, Udmurt, and Meadow Mari. So far for the kernel of truth, but the fourth Uralic language, South Sámi, is comparably rigid and does not feature this particular kind of word order variability. Further such comparably rigid, non-scrambling verb-final languages are Dutch, Afrikaans, Amharic, and Korean. In contrast to scrambling languages, non-scrambling languages feature obligatory subject movement, causing word order rigidity next to other typical EPP effects.
The EPP is a defining feature of South Sámi clause structure in general. South Sámi exhibits a one-of-a-kind alternation between SOV and SAuxOV order that is captured by the assumption of the EPP and obligatory movement of auxiliaries but not lexical verbs. Other languages that allow for SAuxOV order either lack an alternation because the auxiliary is obligatorily present (Macro-Sudan SAuxOVX languages), or feature an alternation between SVO and SAuxOV (Kru languages; V2 with underlying OV as a fringe case). In the SVO–SAuxOV languages, both auxiliaries and lexical verbs move. Hence, South Sámi shows that the textbook difference between the VO languages English and French, whether verb movement is restricted to auxiliaries, also extends to OV languages. SAuxOV languages are an outlier among OV languages in general but are united by the presence of the EPP.
Word order variability is not restricted to the preverbal field in verb-final languages, as most of them feature postverbal elements (PVE). PVE challenge the notion of verb-finality in a language. Strictly verb-final languages without any clause-internal PVE are rare. This thesis charts the first structural and descriptive typology of PVE. Verb-final languages vary in the categories they allow as PVE. Allowing for non-oblique PVE is a pivotal threshold: when non-oblique PVE are allowed, PVE can be used for information-structural effects. Many areally and genetically unrelated languages only allow for given PVE but differ in whether the PVE are contrastive. In those languages, verb-finality is not at stake since verb-medial orders are marked. In contrast, the Uralic languages Estonian and Udmurt allow for any PVE, including information focus. Verb-medial orders can be used in the same contexts as verb-final orders without semantic and pragmatic differences. As such, verb placement is subject to actual free variation. The underlying verb-finality of Estonian and Udmurt can only be inferred from a range of diagnostics indicating optional verb movement in both languages. In general, it is not possible to account for PVE with a uniform analysis: rightwards merge, leftward verb movement, and rightwards phrasal movement are required to capture the cross- and intralinguistic variation.
Knowing that a language is verb-final does not allow one to draw conclusions about word order variability in that language. There are patterns of homogeneity, such as the word order variability driven by directly preverbal focus and the givenness of postverbal elements, but those are not brought about by verb-finality alone. Preverbal word order variability is restricted by the more abstract property of obligatory subject movement, whereas the determinant of postverbal word order variability has to be determined in the future.
N2 - Diese Dissertation behandelt die Wortstellungsvariabilität verbfinaler Sprachen. Verbfinale Sprachen haben den Ruf, ein hohes Maß an Wortstellungsvariabilität aufzuweisen. Dieser Ruf beruht jedoch lediglich auf anekdotischen Befunden, da es einer systematischen Untersuchung eines solchen Zusammenhangs ermangelt. Die vorliegende Dissertation stellt eine solche systematische Untersuchung dar. Dafür werden neu erhobene Daten zu mehreren verbfinalen Sprachen präsentiert. Der Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auf vier uralischen Sprachen: Estnisch, Udmurtisch, Wiesenmari und Südsamisch. Der Ruf der Wortstellungsvariabilität erweist sich teils als wahr, da viele nicht miteinander verwandte, verbfinale Sprachen dieselbe Art Wortstellungsvariabilität teilen, das sogenannte A-Scrambling. A-Scrambling zeichnet sich gegenüber anderen Arten der Wortstellungsvariabilität dadurch aus, dass vorangestellten Elementen keine spezielle informationsstrukturelle Rolle wie Topic oder kontrastiver Fokus zukommt. A-Scrambling geht mit einem rechtsbefindlichen, unmittelbar präverbalen Fokus einher. Variationen des Musters aus A-Scrambling und präverbalem Fokus finden sich im Uigurischen, Standard-Dargwa, Ostarmenischen und in drei der uralischen Sprachen, nämlich Estnisch, Udmurtisch und Wiesenmari. Insofern bestätigt sich der Eindruck einer homogenen Wortstellungsvariabilität in verbfinalen Sprachen. Die vierte untersuchte uralische Sprache, Südsamisch, widerspricht diesem Eindruck jedoch. Südsamisch weist eine vergleichsweise feste Wortstellung auf trägt nicht die Kennzeichen von A-Scrambling. Darüberhinaus gibt es noch weitere, vergleichsweise starre, scramblinglose verbfinale Sprachen: Niederländisch, Afrikaans, Amharisch und Koreanisch. Im Gegensatz zu Sprachen mit A-Scrambling weisen scramblinglose Sprachen obligatorische Subjektbewegung (EPP) auf. Das EPP führt neben anderen typischen EPP-Effekten zu einer starren Wortstellung.
Das EPP ist ein zentrales Merkmal der Satzstruktur im Südsamischen. Das Südsamische weist eine bislang nicht attestierte Alternation zwischen SOV- und SAuxOV-Stellung auf. Diese Alternation kann durch das Zusammenspiel von EPP und der obligatorischen Bewegung von Hilfsverben, nicht jedoch von lexikalischen Verben, erfasst werden. Andere Sprachen mit SAuxOV-Stellung weisen entweder keine systematische Alternation auf, weil das Hilfsverb obligatorisch vorhanden ist (Makro-Sudanische SAuxOVX-Sprachen), oder sie weisen eine Alternation zwischen SVO und SAuxOV auf (Kru-Sprachen; V2 mit zugrundeliegender Verbfinalität als Zweifelsfall). In den SVO–SAuxOV-Sprachen bewegen sich sowohl Hilfsverben als auch lexikalische Verben. Somit zeigt das Südsamische, dass eine sonst nur für VO-Sprachen bekannte parametrische Unterscheidung auch für OV-Sprachen gilt: der weithin bekannte Unterschied zwischen VO-Sprachen wie Englisch und Französisch, ob Verbbewegung auf Hilfsverben beschränkt ist. SAuxOV-Sprachen bilden insgesamt eine Ausnahme unter den OV-Sprachen, aber sie sind durch das Vorhandensein des EPP vereint.
Wortstellungsvariabilität beschränkt sich in verbfinalen Sprachen nicht auf die präverbale Domäne. Die meisten verbfinalen Sprachen weisen postverbale Elemente (PVE) auf. PVE stellen den Status der Verbfinalität infrage. Strikt verbfinale Sprachen ohne jegliche satzinterne PVE sind jedoch selten. Diese Dissertation stellt zum ersten Mal eine strukturelle und deskriptive PVE-Typologie vor. Verbfinale Sprachen variieren in den Kategorien, die sie als PVE zulassen. Das Zulassen von nicht-oblike PVE ist eine entscheidende Schwelle: Wenn nicht-oblike PVE erlaubt sind, können PVE für informationsstrukturelle Effekte verwendet werden. Viele areal und genetisch nicht verwandte Sprachen erlauben nur gegebene PVE, unterscheiden sich jedoch darin, ob die PVE kontrastiv kontrastiv sein können. In diesen Sprachen steht die Verbfinalität nicht zur Debatte, da verbmediale Ordnungen nicht neutral sind. Im Gegensatz dazu erlauben die uralischen Sprachen Estnisch und Udmurtisch jede Art von PVE, einschließlich Informationsfoki. Verbmediale Stellungen können dort also in denselben Kontexten wie verbfinale Stellungen verwendet werden, ohne dass es zu semantischen und pragmatischen Unterschieden kommt. Hier kann also die Rede von tatsächlicher freier Variation in der Verbstellung sein. Die zugrunde liegende Verbfinalität des Estnischen und Udmurtischen kann nur mithilfe einer Reihe syntaktischer Tests abgeleitet werden, die auf optionale Verbbewegung in beiden Sprachen hinweisen. Insgesamt ist es nicht möglich, PVE mit einer einheitlichen Analyse zu erfassen: Merger nach rechts, linksgerichtete Verbbewegung und rechtsgerichtete Phrasenbewegung sind erforderlich, um die inter- und intralinguistische Variation zu erfassen.
Zu wissen, dass eine Sprache verbfinal ist, erlaubt keine unfehlbaren Schlüsse über die Wortstellungsvariabilität in dieser Sprache. Es gibt Muster der Homogenität, wie die durch unmittelbar präverbalen Fokus und die Gegebenheit postverbaler Elemente getriebene Wortstellungsvariabilität. Diese Muster ergeben sich aber nicht allein aus der Verbfinalität. Die präverbale Wortstellungsvariabilität wird durch die abstraktere Eigenschaft der obligatorischen Subjektbewegung (EPP) bestimmt. Was die Möglichkeiten postverbaler Wortstellungsvariabilität bestimmt muss künftig ermittelt werden.
KW - Uralic languages
KW - syntax
KW - word order
KW - information structure
KW - verb-final languages
KW - uralische Sprachen
KW - Syntax
KW - Informationsstruktur
KW - Wortstellung
KW - verbfinale Sprachen
Y1 - 2024
U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-643636
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Vogel, Annemarie
A1 - Claus, Inga
A1 - Ahring, Sigrid
A1 - Gruber, Doreen
A1 - Haghikia, Aiden
A1 - Frank, Ulrike
A1 - Dziewas, Rainer
A1 - Ebersbach, Georg
A1 - Gandor, Florin
A1 - Warnecke, Tobias
T1 - Endoscopic characteristics of dysphagia in multiple system atrophy
JF - Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society
N2 - Background
Dysphagia is a major clinical concern in multiple system atrophy (MSA). A detailed evaluation of its major endoscopic features compared with Parkinson's disease (PD) is lacking.
Objective
This study systematically assessed dysphagia in MSA compared with PD and correlated subjective dysphagia to objective endoscopic findings.
Methods
Fifty-seven patients with MSA (median, 64 [interquartile range (IQR): 59-71] years; 35 women) underwent flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing using a specific MSA-flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing task protocol. Findings were compared with an age-matched cohort of 57 patients with PD (median, 67 [interquartile range: 60-73] years; 28 women). In a subcohort, subjective dysphagia was assessed using the Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire and correlated to endoscopy findings.
Results
Patients with MSA predominantly showed symptoms suggestive of oral-phase disturbance (premature spillage, 75.4%, piecemeal deglutition, 75.4%). Pharyngeal-phase symptoms occurred less often (pharyngeal residues, 50.9%; penetration/aspiration, 28.1%). In contrast, pharyngeal symptoms were the most common finding in PD (pharyngeal residues, 47.4%). Oral symptoms occurred less frequently in PD (premature spillage, 15.8%, P < 0.001; piecemeal deglutition, 1.8%, P < 0.01). Patients with MSA had a greater risk for oral-phase disturbances with increased disease severity (P < 0.05; odds ratio, 3.15). Patients with MSA showed a significantly higher intraindividual interswallow variability compared with PD. When correlating Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire scores with endoscopy results, its cutoff, validated for PD, was not sensitive enough to identify patients with MSA with dysphagia. We developed a subscore for identifying dysphagia in MSA and calculated a new cutoff (sensitivity 85%, specificity 100%).
Conclusions
In contrast with patients with PD, patients with dysphagic MSA more frequently present with oral-phase symptoms and a significantly higher intraindividual interswallow variability. A novel Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire MSA subscore may be a valuable tool to identify patients with MSA with early oropharyngeal dysphagia.
KW - multiple system atrophy
KW - dysphagia
KW - FEES
KW - Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire
KW - SDQ
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.28854
SN - 0885-3185
SN - 1531-8257
VL - 37
IS - 3
SP - 535
EP - 544
PB - Wiley-Blackwell
CY - Hoboken
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Hein, Johannes
A1 - Murphy, Andrew
T1 - VP-nominalization and the Final-over-Final Condition
JF - Linguistic inquiry
N2 - The Final-over-Final Condition has emerged as a robust and explanatory generalization for a wide range of phenomena (Biberauer, Holmberg, and Roberts 2014, Sheehan et al. 2017).
In this article, we argue that it also holds in another domain, nominalization.
In languages that show overt nominalization of VPs, one word order is routinely unattested, namely, a head-initial VP with a suffixal nominalizer.
This typological gap can be accounted for by the Final-over-Final Condition, if we allow it to hold within mixed extended projections.
This view also makes correct predictions about agentive nominalizations and nominalized serial verb constructions.
KW - Final-over-Final Condition
KW - nominalization
KW - extended projections
KW - word order
KW - serial verb constructions
KW - syntax
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1162/ling_a_00407
SN - 0024-3892
SN - 1530-9150
VL - 53
IS - 2
SP - 337
EP - 370
PB - MIT Press
CY - Cambridge, Mass.
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Bosch, Sina
A1 - De Cesare, Ilaria
A1 - Demske, Ulrike
A1 - Felser, Claudia
T1 - Correction zu: Word-order variation and coherence in German infinitival complementation. - (The journal of comparative Germanic linguistics. - 26 (2023) 1) . - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10828-023-09140-8
JF - The journal of comparative Germanic linguistics
Y1 - 2023
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10828-023-09143-5
SN - 1383-4924
SN - 1572-8552
VL - 26
IS - 1
PB - Springer
CY - New York
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Bosch, Sina
A1 - De Cesare, Ilaria
A1 - Demske, Ulrike
A1 - Felser, Claudia
T1 - Word-order variation and coherence in German infinitival complementation
JF - The journal of comparative Germanic linguistics
N2 - This study provides a synthesis of corpus-based and experimental investigations of word-order preferences in German infinitival complementation. We carried out a systematic analysis of present-day German corpora to establish frequency distributions of different word-order options: extraposition, intraposition, and 'third construction'. We then examined, firstly, whether and to what extent corpus frequencies and processing economy constraints can predict the acceptability of these three word-order variants, and whether subject raising and subject control verbs form clearly distinguishable subclasses of infinitive-embedding verbs in terms of their word-order behaviour. Secondly, our study looks into the issue of coherence by comparing acceptability ratings for monoclausal coherent and biclausal incoherent construals of intraposed infinitives, and by examining whether a biclausal incoherent analysis gives rise to local and/or global processing difficulty. Taken together, our results revealed that (i) whilst the extraposition pattern consistently wins out over all other word-order variants for control verbs, neither frequency nor processing-based approaches to word-order variation can account for the acceptability of low-frequency variants, (ii) there is considerable verb-specific variation regarding word-order preferences both between and within the two sets of raising and control verbs under investigation, and (iii) although monoclausal coherent intraposition is rated above biclausal incoherent intraposition, the latter is not any more difficult to process than the former. Our findings indicate that frequency of occurrence and processing-related constraints interact with idiosyncratic lexical properties of individual verbs in determining German speakers' structural preferences.
KW - Syntactic variation
KW - German
KW - Infinitives
KW - Corpus linguistics
KW - Acceptability judgements
KW - Self-paced reading
Y1 - 2023
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10828-023-09140-8
SN - 1572-8552
VL - 26
IS - 1
PB - Springer
CY - New York
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Hollenstein, Nora
A1 - Trondle, Marius
A1 - Plomecka, Martyna
A1 - Kiegeland, Samuel
A1 - Ozyurt, Yilmazcan
A1 - Jäger, Lena Ann
A1 - Langer, Nicolas
T1 - The ZuCo benchmark on cross-subject reading task classification with EEG and eye-tracking data
JF - Frontiers in psychology
N2 - We present a new machine learning benchmark for reading task classification with the goal of advancing EEG and eye-tracking research at the intersection between computational language processing and cognitive neuroscience. The benchmark task consists of a cross-subject classification to distinguish between two reading paradigms: normal reading and task-specific reading. The data for the benchmark is based on the Zurich Cognitive Language Processing Corpus (ZuCo 2.0), which provides simultaneous eye-tracking and EEG signals from natural reading of English sentences. The training dataset is publicly available, and we present a newly recorded hidden testset. We provide multiple solid baseline methods for this task and discuss future improvements. We release our code and provide an easy-to-use interface to evaluate new approaches with an accompanying public leaderboard: .
KW - reading task classification
KW - eye-tracking
KW - EEG
KW - machine learning
KW - reading research
KW - cross-subject evaluation
Y1 - 2023
U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1028824
SN - 1664-1078
VL - 13
PB - Frontiers Media
CY - Lausanne
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Stone, Kate
A1 - Verissimo, Joao
A1 - Schad, Daniel J.
A1 - Oltrogge, Elise
A1 - Vasishth, Shravan
A1 - Lago, Sol
T1 - The interaction of grammatically distinct agreement dependencies in predictive processing
JF - Language, cognition and neuroscience
N2 - 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.
KW - sentence processing
KW - visual world eye-tracking
KW - prediction
KW - gender
KW - agreement
KW - German
Y1 - 2021
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2021.1921816
SN - 2327-3798
SN - 2327-3801
VL - 36
IS - 9
SP - 1159
EP - 1179
PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
CY - Abingdon
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Schmandt, Silvana
A1 - Nazzi, Thierry
A1 - New, Boris
T1 - Consonant, vowel and lexical neighbourhood processing during word recognition: new evidence using the sandwich priming technique
JF - Language, cognition and neuroscience
N2 - Studies on French adults using a written lexical decision task with masked priming, in which targets were more primed by consonant- (jalu-JOLI) than vowel-related (vobi-JOLI) primes, support the proposal that consonants have more weight than vowels in lexical processing.
This study examines the phonological and/or lexical nature of this consonant bias
(C-bias), using a sandwich priming task in which a brief presentation of the target
(pre-prime) precedes the prime-target sequence, a manipulation blocking lexical neighbourhood effects.
Results from three experiments (varying pre-prime/prime durations) show consistent
C-priming and no significant V-priming at earlier and later processing stages (50 or 66 ms primes).
Yet, a joint analysis reveals a small V-priming, while confirming a significant consonant advantage.
This demonstrates the contribution of the phonological level to the C-bias.
Second, differences in performance comparing the classic versus sandwich priming task also establish a contribution of lexical neighbourhood inhibition effects to the C-bias.
KW - consonants and vowels
KW - phonological and lexical processing
KW - visual word recognition
KW - consonant bias
KW - sandwich priming paradigm
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2022.2046115
SN - 2327-3798
SN - 2327-3801
VL - 37
IS - 9
SP - 1115
EP - 1130
PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
CY - Abingdon
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Wiese, Heike
A1 - Alexiadou, Artemis
A1 - Allen, Shanley
A1 - Bunk, Oliver
A1 - Gagarina, Natalia
A1 - Iefremenko, Kateryna
A1 - Martynova, Maria
A1 - Pashkova, Tatiana
A1 - Rizou, Vicky
A1 - Schroeder, Christoph
A1 - Shadrova, Anna
A1 - Szucsich, Luka
A1 - Tracy, Rosemarie
A1 - Tsehaye, Wintai
A1 - Zerbian, Sabine
A1 - Zuban, Yulia
T1 - Heritage speakers as part of the native language continuum
JF - Frontiers in psychology
N2 - We argue for a perspective on bilingual heritage speakers as native speakers of both their languages and present results from a large-scale, cross-linguistic study that took such a perspective and approached bilinguals and monolinguals on equal grounds.
We targeted comparable language use in bilingual and monolingual speakers, crucially covering broader repertoires than just formal language. A main database was the open-access RUEG corpus, which covers comparable informal vs. formal and spoken vs. written productions by adolescent and adult bilinguals with heritage-Greek, -Russian, and -Turkish in Germany and the United States and with heritage-German in the United States, and matching data from monolinguals in Germany, the United States, Greece, Russia, and Turkey. Our main results lie in three areas.
(1) We found non-canonical patterns not only in bilingual, but also in monolingual speakers, including patterns that have so far been considered absent from native grammars, in domains of morphology, syntax, intonation, and pragmatics.
(2) We found a degree of lexical and morphosyntactic inter-speaker variability in monolinguals that was sometimes higher than that of bilinguals, further challenging the model of the streamlined native speaker.
(3) In majority language use, non-canonical patterns were dominant in spoken and/or informal registers, and this was true for monolinguals and bilinguals. In some cases, bilingual speakers were leading quantitatively. In heritage settings where the language was not part of formal schooling, we found tendencies of register leveling, presumably due to the fact that speakers had limited access to formal registers of the heritage language.
Our findings thus indicate possible quantitative differences and different register distributions rather than distinct grammatical patterns in bilingual and monolingual speakers. This supports the integration of heritage speakers into the native-speaker continuum. Approaching heritage speakers from this perspective helps us to better understand the empirical data and can shed light on language variation and change in native grammars.
Furthermore, our findings for monolinguals lead us to reconsider the state-of-the art on majority languages, given recurring evidence for non-canonical patterns that deviate from what has been assumed in the literature so far, and might have been attributed to bilingualism had we not included informal and spoken registers in monolinguals and bilinguals alike.
KW - heritage speakers
KW - registers
KW - participles
KW - word order
KW - bare NPs
KW - boundary tone
KW - referent introduction
KW - relative clause formation
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.717973
SN - 1664-1078
VL - 12
PB - Frontiers Media
CY - Lausanne
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Conrad, Markus
A1 - Ullrich, Susann
A1 - Schmidtke, David S.
A1 - Kotz, Sonja A.
T1 - ERPs reveal an iconic relation between sublexical phonology and affective meaning
JF - Cognition : international journal of cognitive science
N2 - Classical linguistic theory assumes that formal aspects, like sound, are not internally related to the meaning of words. However, recent research suggests language might code affective meaning such as threat and alert sublexically. Positing affective phonological iconicity as a systematic organization principle of the German lexicon, we calculated sublexical affective values for sub-syllabic phonological word segments from a large-scale affective lexical German database by averaging valence and arousal ratings of all words any phonological segment appears in. We tested word stimuli with either consistent or inconsistent mappings between lexical affective meaning and sublexical affective values (negative-valence/high-arousal vs. neutral-valence/lowarousal) in an EEG visual-lexical-decision task. A mismatch between sublexical and lexical affective values elicited an increased N400 response. These results reveal that systematic affective phonological iconicity - extracted from the lexicon - impacts the extraction of lexical word meaning during reading.
KW - Sound symbolism
KW - Visual word recognition
KW - Phonological iconicity
KW - Affective meaning
KW - N400
KW - ERPs
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105182
SN - 0010-0277
SN - 1873-7838
VL - 226
PB - Elsevier
CY - Amsterdam
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Scheffler, Tatjana
A1 - Brandt, Lasse
A1 - de la Fuente, Marie
A1 - Nenchev, Ivan
T1 - Stimulus data and experimental design for a self-paced reading study on emoji-word substitutions
JF - Data in Brief
N2 - This data paper presents the experimental design and stimuli from an online self-paced reading study on the processing of emojis substituting lexically ambiguous nouns. We recorded reading times for the target ambiguous nouns and for emojis depicting either the intended target referent or a contextually inappropriate homophonous noun. Furthermore, we recorded comprehension accuracy, demographics and a self-assessment of the participants' emoji usage frequency. The data includes all stimuli used, the raw data, the full JavaScript code for the online experiment, as well as Python and R code for the data analysis. We believe that our dataset may give important insights related to the comprehension mechanisms involved in the cognitive processing of emojis. For interpretation and discussion of the experiment, please see the original article entitled "The processing of emoji-word substitutions: A self-paced-reading study".
KW - Emojis
KW - Self-paced reading
KW - Lexical ambiguity
KW - Homonymy
KW - Processing
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2022.108399
SN - 2352-3409
VL - 43
PB - Elsevier
CY - Amsterdam
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Bade, Nadine
A1 - Picat, Leo
A1 - Chung, WooJin
A1 - Mascarenhas, Salvador
T1 - Alternatives and attention in language and reasoning: A reply to Mascarenhas & Picat (2019)
JF - Semantics and Pragmatics
N2 - In this paper, we employ an experimental paradigm using insights from the psychology of reasoning to investigate the question whether certain modals generate and draw attention to alternatives. The article extends and builds on the methodology and findings of Mascarenhas & Picat (2019). Based on experimental results, they argue that the English epistemic modal might raises alternatives. We apply the same methodology to the English modal allowed to to test different hypotheses regarding the involvement of alternatives in deontic modality. We find commonalities and differences between the two modals we tested. We discuss theoretical consequences for existing semantic analyses of these modals, and argue that reasoning tasks can serve as a diagnostic tool to discover which natural language expressions involve alternatives.
KW - reasoning
KW - modals
KW - alternatives
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.3765/sp.15.2
SN - 1937-8912
VL - 15
PB - Linguistic Society of America
CY - Washington
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Bürki, Audrey
A1 - Alario, F-Xavier
A1 - Vasishth, Shravan
T1 - When words collide: Bayesian meta-analyses of distractor and target properties in the picture-word interference paradigm
JF - Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
N2 - In the picture-word interference paradigm, participants name pictures while ignoring a written or spoken distractor word. Naming times to the pictures are slowed down by the presence of the distractor word. The present study investigates in detail the impact of distractor and target word properties on picture naming times, building on the seminal study by Miozzo and Caramazza. We report the results of several Bayesian meta-analyses based on 26 datasets. These analyses provide estimates of effect sizes and their precision for several variables and their interactions. They show the reliability of the distractor frequency effect on picture naming latencies (latencies decrease as the frequency of the distractor increases) and demonstrate for the first time the impact of distractor length, with longer naming latencies for trials with longer distractors. Moreover, distractor frequency interacts with target word frequency to predict picture naming latencies. The methodological and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
KW - Picture-word interference
KW - Bayesian meta-analysis
KW - distractor frequency
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218221114644
SN - 1747-0218
SN - 1747-0226
VL - 76
IS - 6
SP - 1410
EP - 1430
PB - Sage Publications
CY - London
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Liu, Liquan
A1 - Götz, Antonia
A1 - Lorette, Pernelle
A1 - Tyler, Michael D.
T1 - How tone, intonation and emotion shape the development of infants' fundamental frequency perception
JF - Frontiers in psychology
N2 - Fundamental frequency (integral(0)), perceived as pitch, is the first and arguably most salient auditory component humans are exposed to since the beginning of life.
It carries multiple linguistic (e.g., word meaning) and paralinguistic (e.g., speakers' emotion) functions in speech and communication.
The mappings between these functions and integral(0) features vary within a language and differ cross-linguistically. For instance, a rising pitch can be perceived as a question in English but a lexical tone in Mandarin. Such variations mean that infants must learn the specific mappings based on their respective linguistic and social environments.
To date, canonical theoretical frameworks and most empirical studies do not view or consider the multi-functionality of integral(0), but typically focus on individual functions. More importantly, despite the eventual mastery of integral(0) in communication, it is unclear how infants learn to decompose and recognize these overlapping functions carried by integral(0). In this paper, we review the symbioses and synergies of the lexical, intonational, and emotional functions that can be carried by integral(0) and are being acquired throughout infancy.
On the basis of our review, we put forward the Learnability Hypothesis that infants decompose and acquire multiple integral(0) functions through native/environmental experiences. Under this hypothesis, we propose representative cases such as the synergy scenario, where infants use visual cues to disambiguate and decompose the different integral(0) functions. Further, viable ways to test the scenarios derived from this hypothesis are suggested across auditory and visual modalities.
Discovering how infants learn to master the diverse functions carried by integral(0) can increase our understanding of linguistic systems, auditory processing and communication functions.
KW - lexical tone
KW - intonation, Prosody
KW - phonological theory
KW - sensory processing
KW - cognitive processing
KW - cross-linguistic transfer
KW - emotional tone
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.906848
SN - 1664-1078
VL - 13
PB - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY - Lausanne
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Schad, Daniel
A1 - Nicenboim, Bruno
A1 - Bürkner, Paul-Christian
A1 - Betancourt, Michael
A1 - Vasishth, Shravan
T1 - Workflow techniques for the robust use of bayes factors
JF - Psychological methods
N2 - Inferences about hypotheses are ubiquitous in the cognitive sciences. Bayes factors provide one general way to compare different hypotheses by their compatibility with the observed data. Those quantifications can then also be used to choose between hypotheses. While Bayes factors provide an immediate approach to hypothesis testing, they are highly sensitive to details of the data/model assumptions and it's unclear whether the details of the computational implementation (such as bridge sampling) are unbiased for complex analyses. Hem, we study how Bayes factors misbehave under different conditions. This includes a study of errors in the estimation of Bayes factors; the first-ever use of simulation-based calibration to test the accuracy and bias of Bayes factor estimates using bridge sampling; a study of the stability of Bayes factors against different MCMC draws and sampling variation in the data; and a look at the variability of decisions based on Bayes factors using a utility function. We outline a Bayes factor workflow that researchers can use to study whether Bayes factors are robust for their individual analysis. Reproducible code is available from haps://osf.io/y354c/.
Translational Abstract
In psychology and related areas, scientific hypotheses are commonly tested by asking questions like "is [some] effect present or absent." Such hypothesis testing is most often carried out using frequentist null hypothesis significance testing (NIIST). The NHST procedure is very simple: It usually returns a p-value, which is then used to make binary decisions like "the effect is present/abscnt." For example, it is common to see studies in the media that draw simplistic conclusions like "coffee causes cancer," or "coffee reduces the chances of geuing cancer." However, a powerful and more nuanced alternative approach exists: Bayes factors. Bayes factors have many advantages over NHST. However, for the complex statistical models that arc commonly used for data analysis today, computing Bayes factors is not at all a simple matter. In this article, we discuss the main complexities associated with computing Bayes factors. This is the first article to provide a detailed workflow for understanding and computing Bayes factors in complex statistical models. The article provides a statistically more nuanced way to think about hypothesis testing than the overly simplistic tendency to declare effects as being "present" or "absent".
KW - Bayes factors
KW - Bayesian model comparison
KW - prior
KW - posterior
KW - simulation-based calibration
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000472
SN - 1082-989X
SN - 1939-1463
VL - 28
IS - 6
SP - 1404
EP - 1426
PB - American Psychological Association
CY - Washington
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Cuperus, Pauline
A1 - de Kok, Dörte
A1 - de Aguiar, Vania
A1 - Nickels, Lyndsey
T1 - Understanding user needs for digital aphasia therapy
BT - experiences and preferences of speech and language therapists
JF - Aphasiology : an international, interdisciplinary journal
N2 - Background:
Aphasia therapy software applications (apps) can help achieve recommendations regarding aphasia treatment intensity and duration.
However, we currently know very little about speech and language therapists' (SLTs) preferences with regards to these apps.
This may be problematic, as clinician acceptance of novel treatments and technology are a key factor for successful translation from research evidence to practice.
Aim:
This research aimed to increase our understanding of clinicians' experiences with aphasia therapy apps and their perceived barriers and facilitators to the use of aphasia apps. Furthermore, we wanted to explore the influence of some demographic factors (age, country, and SLT availability in the client's hometown) on SLTs' attitudes towards these apps.
Method & Procedures:
35 Dutch and 29 Australian SLTs completed an online survey. The survey contained 9 closed-ended questions and 3 open-ended questions. Responses to the closed-ended questions were summarised through the use of descriptive statistics. The responses to the open questions were analysed and coded into recurring themes that were derived from the data. Logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the relationship between the demographic variables and the responses to the closed-ended questions.
Outcomes & results:
Participants were overwhelmingly positive about aphasia therapy apps and saw the potential for their clients to use apps independently. As facilitators of app use, participants reported accessibility and inclusion of different language modalities, while high costs, absence of a compatible device, and clients' potential computer illiteracy were listed as barriers. None of the analysed demographic factors consistently influenced differences in participants' attitudes towards aphasia therapy apps.
Conclusions:
The positive, extensive and insightful feedback from speech and language therapists is both useful and encouraging for app developers and aphasia researchers, and should facilitate the development of appropriate, high-quality therapy apps.
KW - telemedicine
KW - mobile applications
KW - user research
KW - speech and language therapy
KW - clinician feedback
Y1 - 2022
U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2022.2066622
SN - 0268-7038
SN - 1464-5041
VL - 37
IS - 7
SP - 1016
EP - 1038
PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
CY - London
ER -