@misc{WattendorfFestmanWestermannetal.2012, author = {Wattendorf, Elise and Festman, Julia and Westermann, Birgit and Keil, Ursula and Zappatore, Daniela and Franceschini, Rita and Luedi, Georges and Radue, Ernst-Wilhelm and M{\"u}nte, Thomas F. and Rager, G{\"u}nter and Nitsch, Cordula}, title = {Early bilingualism influences early and subsequently later acquired languages in cortical regions representing control functions}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {384}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-404092}, pages = {19}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Early acquisition of a second language influences the development of language abilities and cognitive functions. In the present study, we used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to investigate the impact of early bilingualism on the organization of the cortical language network during sentence production. Two groups of adult multilinguals, proficient in three languages, were tested on a narrative task; early multilinguals acquired the second language before the age of three years, late multilinguals after the age of nine. All participants learned a third language after nine years of age. Comparison of the two groups revealed substantial differences in language-related brain activity for early as well as late acquired languages. Most importantly, early multilinguals preferentially activated a fronto-striatal network in the left hemisphere, whereas the left posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) was activated to a lesser degree than in late multilinguals. The same brain regions were highlighted in previous studies when a non-target language had to be controlled. Hence the engagement of language control in adult early multilinguals appears to be influenced by the specific learning and acquisition conditions during early childhood. Remarkably, our results reveal that the functional control of early and subsequently later acquired languages is similarly affected, suggesting that language experience has a pervasive influence into adulthood. As such, our findings extend the current understanding of control functions in multilinguals.}, language = {en} } @article{WattendorfFestmanWestermannetal.2014, author = {Wattendorf, Elise and Festman, Julia and Westermann, Birgit and Keil, Ursula and Zappatore, Daniela and Franceschini, Rita and Luedi, Georges and Radue, Ernst-Wilhelm and Muente, Thomas F. and Rager, Guenter and Nitsch, Cordula}, title = {Early bilingualism influences early and subsequently later acquired languages in cortical regions representing control functions}, series = {International journal of bilingualism : cross-disciplinary, cross-linguistic studies of language behavior}, volume = {18}, journal = {International journal of bilingualism : cross-disciplinary, cross-linguistic studies of language behavior}, number = {1}, publisher = {Sage Publ.}, address = {London}, issn = {1367-0069}, doi = {10.1177/1367006912456590}, pages = {48 -- 66}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Early acquisition of a second language influences the development of language abilities and cognitive functions. In the present study, we used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to investigate the impact of early bilingualism on the organization of the cortical language network during sentence production. Two groups of adult multilinguals, proficient in three languages, were tested on a narrative task; early multilinguals acquired the second language before the age of three years, late multilinguals after the age of nine. All participants learned a third language after nine years of age. Comparison of the two groups revealed substantial differences in language-related brain activity for early as well as late acquired languages. Most importantly, early multilinguals preferentially activated a fronto-striatal network in the left hemisphere, whereas the left posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) was activated to a lesser degree than in late multilinguals. The same brain regions were highlighted in previous studies when a non-target language had to be controlled. Hence the engagement of language control in adult early multilinguals appears to be influenced by the specific learning and acquisition conditions during early childhood. Remarkably, our results reveal that the functional control of early and subsequently later acquired languages is similarly affected, suggesting that language experience has a pervasive influence into adulthood. As such, our findings extend the current understanding of control functions in multilinguals.}, language = {en} } @misc{Verissimo2017, author = {Verissimo, Jo{\~a}o Marques}, title = {Sensitive periods in both L1 and L2}, series = {Bilingualism : language and cognition}, volume = {21}, journal = {Bilingualism : language and cognition}, number = {5}, publisher = {Cambridge Univ. Press}, address = {New York}, issn = {1366-7289}, doi = {10.1017/S1366728918000275}, pages = {932 -- 933}, year = {2017}, abstract = {The keynote article (Mayberry \& Kluender, 2017) makes an important contribution to questions concerning the existence and characteristics of sensitive periods in language acquisition. Specifically, by comparing groups of non-native L1 and L2 signers, the authors have been able to ingeniously disentangle the effects of maturation from those of early language exposure. Based on L1 versus L2 contrasts, the paper convincingly argues that L2 learning is a less clear test of sensitive periods. Nevertheless, we believe Mayberry and Kluender underestimate the evidence for maturational factors in L2 learning, especially that coming from recent research.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schroeder2006, author = {Schr{\"o}der, Astrid}, title = {Semantische Kategorien und Merkmalswissen : eine experimentelle Studie zur semantischen Repr{\"a}sentation konkreter Objektbegriffe}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-12837}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2006}, abstract = {Die Arbeit untersucht die Annahme einer unterschiedlichen Gewichtung von distinktiven enzyklop{\"a}dischen, funktionalen und sensorischen Merkmalen innerhalb der Repr{\"a}sentationen von Objekten der belebten und unbelebten semantischen Dom{\"a}ne. Hierzu wurde ein Reaktionszeitexperiment zur Merkmalsverifikation durchgef{\"u}hrt. Vorab wurden deutsche Normen {\"u}ber das gesch{\"a}tzte Erwerbsalter f{\"u}r 244 Stimuli aus dem Korpus von Snodgrass \& Vanderwart (1980) erhoben. Weiterhin wurde eine Datenbank von Merkmalsnormen f{\"u}r 80 konkrete Objektbegriffe erstellt. Insgesamt wurden zwei Reaktionszeitexperimente durchgef{\"u}hrt, die sich lediglich durch die Darbietungsdauer des Konzeptbegriffes unterschieden. Der Konzeptbegriff wurde entweder 1000 ms (lange Darbietung) oder 250 ms (kurze Darbietung) pr{\"a}sentiert, bevor das zu verifizierende semantische Merkmal erschien. Bei langer Pr{\"a}sentationszeit des Objektbegriffes zeigten sich f{\"u}r Objekte der unbelebten Dom{\"a}ne schnellere Reaktionszeiten beim Verifizieren von distinktiven funktionalen Merkmalen als beim Verifizieren von distinktiven enzyklop{\"a}dischen Merkmalen. Dieser Effekt wurde bei kurzer Darbietungsdauer des Konzeptbegriffes repliziert. Bei kurzer Darbietung konnten f{\"u}r Objekte der unbelebten Dom{\"a}ne zus{\"a}tzlich k{\"u}rzere Reaktionszeiten beim Verifizieren distinktiver funktionaler Merkmale als beim Verifizieren distinktiver sensorischer Merkmale beobachtet werden. F{\"u}r Objekte der belebten Dom{\"a}ne lagen weder nach kurzer noch nach langer Pr{\"a}sentation des Objektbegriffes Unterschiede in den Reaktionszeiten beim Verifizieren der semantischen Merkmale vor. Die Ergebnisse werden vor dem Hintergrund aktueller neurolinguistischer Modelle zur Organisation des semantischen Ged{\"a}chtnisses diskutiert. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass innerhalb der Objektrepr{\"a}sentationen belebter Objekte alle drei Merkmalstypen interkorrelieren. F{\"u}r Objekte der unbelebten Dom{\"a}ne werden starke Interkorrelationen zwischen funktionalen und sensorischen Merkmalen angenommen. Zus{\"a}tzlich wird davon ausgegangen, dass distinktive funktionale Merkmale innerhalb der Repr{\"a}sentationen unbelebter Objekte besonders stark gewichtet sind.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Raeling2016, author = {R{\"a}ling, Romy}, title = {Age of acquisition and semantic typicality effects}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-95943}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {x, 133}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Age of acquisition (AOA) is a psycholinguistic variable that significantly influences behavioural measures (response times and accuracy rates) in tasks that require lexical and semantic processing. Its origin is - unlike the origin of semantic typicality (TYP), which is assumed at the semantic level - controversially discussed. Different theories propose AOA effects to originate either at the semantic level or at the link between semantics and phonology (lemma-level). The dissertation aims at investigating the influence of AOA and its interdependence with the semantic variable TYP on particularly semantic processing in order to pinpoint the origin of AOA effects. Therefore, three studies have been conducted that considered the variables AOA and TYP in semantic processing tasks (category verifications and animacy decisions) by means of behavioural and partly electrophysiological (ERP) data and in different populations (healthy young and elderly participants and in semantically impaired individuals with aphasia (IWA)). The behavioural and electrophysiological data of the three studies provide evidence for distinct processing levels of the variables AOA and TYP. The data further support previous assumptions on a semantic origin for TYP but question the same for AOA. The findings, however, support an origin of AOA effects at the transition between the word form (phonology) and the semantic level that can be captured at the behavioural but not at the electrophysiological level.}, language = {en} } @article{ClahsenVerissimo2016, author = {Clahsen, Harald and Verissimo, Joao Marques}, title = {Investigating grammatical processing in bilinguals The case of morphological priming}, series = {Linguistic approaches to bilingualism}, volume = {6}, journal = {Linguistic approaches to bilingualism}, publisher = {John Benjamins Publishing Co.}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {1879-9264}, doi = {10.1075/lab.15039.cla}, pages = {685 -- 698}, year = {2016}, abstract = {In this article we discuss methods for investigating grammatical processing in bilinguals. We will present a methodological approach that relies on: (i) linguistic theory (in our case, morphology) for the construction of experimental materials; (ii) a design that allows for direct (within-experiment, within-participant, and within-item) comparisons of the critical conditions; and (iii) data analysis techniques that make both linear and non-linear gradient effects visible. We review recent studies of masked morphological priming in bilinguals in which the application of these methodological principles revealed highly selective interactions of age of acquisition (and the native/non-native contrast) with the linguistic distinction between inflection and derivation. We believe that such considerations are not only relevant for grammatical processing experiments, but also for studying bilingualism, and its potential cognitive advantages, more generally.}, language = {en} } @article{BastiaanseWielingWolthuis2016, author = {Bastiaanse, Roelien and Wieling, Martijn and Wolthuis, Nienke}, title = {The role of frequency in the retrieval of nouns and verbs in aphasia}, series = {Aphasiology : an international, interdisciplinary journal}, volume = {30}, journal = {Aphasiology : an international, interdisciplinary journal}, publisher = {Karger}, address = {Abingdon}, issn = {0268-7038}, doi = {10.1080/02687038.2015.1100709}, pages = {1221 -- 1239}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Background: Word retrieval in aphasia involves different levels of processinglemma retrieval, grammatical encoding, lexeme retrieval, and phonological encodingbefore articulation can be programmed and executed. Several grammatical, semantic, lexical, and phonological characteristics, such as word class, age of acquisition, imageability, and word frequency influence the degree of success in word retrieval. It is, however, not yet clear how these factors interact. The current study focuses on the retrieval of nouns and verbs in isolation and in sentence context and evaluates the impact of the mentioned factors on the performance of a group of 54 aphasic speakers.Aims: The main aim is to measure the effect of word frequency on the retrieval of nouns and verb by disentangling the influence of word class, age of acquisition, imageability, and lemma and lexeme frequencies on word retrieval in aphasia.Methods \& Procedures: Four tests for retrieval of nouns, verbs in isolation, and infinitives and finite verbs were administered to 54 aphasic speakers. The influence of lemma and lexeme frequency, Age of Acquisition on the word retrieval abilities was analysed.Outcomes and Results: Word class, age of acquisition, and imageability play a significant role in the retrieval of nouns and verbs: nouns are easier than verbs; the earlier a word has been learned and the more concrete it is, the easier it is to retrieve. When performance is controlled for these factors, lemma frequency turns out to play a minor role: only in object naming does it affect word retrieval: the higher the lemma frequency of a noun, the easier it is to access. Such an effect does not exist for verbs, neither on an action-naming test, nor when verbs have to be retrieved in sentence context. Lexeme frequency was not found to be a better predictor than lemma frequency in predicting word retrieval in aphasia.Conclusions: Word retrieval in aphasia is influenced by grammatical, semantic, and lexical factors. Word frequency only plays a minor role: it affects the retrieval of nouns, but not of verbs.}, language = {en} }