@article{AchillesFinkFischeretal.2016,
  author    = {Achilles, E. I. S. and Fink, G. R. and Fischer, Martin H. and Dovern, A. and Held, A. and Timpert, D. C. and Schroeter, C. and Schuetz, K. and Kloetzsch, C. and Weiss, P. H.},
  title     = {Effect of meaning on apraxic finger imitation deficits},
  series = {Neuropsychologia : an international journal in behavioural and cognitive neuroscience},
  volume    = {82},
  journal   = {Neuropsychologia : an international journal in behavioural and cognitive neuroscience},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {Oxford},
  issn      = {0028-3932},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.12.022},
  pages     = {74 -- 83},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Apraxia typically results from left-hemispheric (LH), but also from right-hemispheric (RH) stroke, and often impairs gesture imitation. Especially in LH stroke, it is important to differentiate apraxia-induced gesture imitation deficits from those due to co-morbid aphasia and associated semantic deficits, possibly influencing the imitation of meaningful (MF) gestures. To explore this issue, we first investigated if the 10 supposedly meaningless (ML) gestures of a widely used finger imitation test really carry no meaning, or if the test also contains MF gestures, by asking healthy subjects (n=45) to classify these gestures as MF or ML. Most healthy subjects (98\%) classified three of the 10 gestures as clearly MF. Only two gestures were considered predominantly ML. We next assessed how imitation in stroke patients (255 LH, 113 RH stroke) is influenced by gesture meaning and how aphasia influences imitation of LH stroke patients (n=208). All patients and especially patients with imitation deficits (17\% of LH, 27\% of RH stroke patients) imitated MF gestures significantly better than ML gestures. Importantly, meaningfulness-scores of all 10 gestures significantly predicted imitation scores of patients with imitation deficits. Furthermore, especially in LH stroke patients with imitation deficits, the severity of aphasia significantly influenced the imitation of MF, but not ML gestures. Our findings in a large patient cohort support current cognitive models of imitation and strongly suggest that ML gestures are particularly sensitive to detect imitation deficits while minimising confounding effects of aphasia which affect the imitation of MF gestures in LH stroke patients. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Doyle2007,
  author    = {Doyle, Timothy F.},
  title     = {The role of context in meaning and understanding},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-20691},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2007},
  abstract  = {In this work the concept of 'context' is considered in five main points. First, context is seen as always necessary for an adequate explication of the concepts of meaning and understanding. Context always plays a role and is not merely brought into consideration when handling a special class of statements or terms, or when there is doubt and clarification is necessary. Second, context cannot be completely reduced to some system of representation. The reason for this is the presence of humans, which is always an important component of a context. Humans experience situations in ways that are not always reducible to symbolic representation. Third, contexts are in principle open. In normal cases they cannot be determined or described in advance. A context is not to be equated with a set of information. Fourth, we understand the parameters of a context pragmatically, which is why we are not led into doubt or even to meaning skepticism by the open nature of a context. This pragmatic knowledge belongs to the category of an ability. Fifth, contexts are, in principle, accessible. This denies the idea that some contexts are incommensurable. There are a number of pragmatic ways of accessing unfamiliar contexts. Some of these are here examined in light of the so-called 'culture wars' in the U.S.A.},
  language  = {en}
}