Papers by Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky
Journal of Memory and Language, 2004
Psycholinguistic investigations of reanalysis phenomena have typically focused on revisions of ph... more Psycholinguistic investigations of reanalysis phenomena have typically focused on revisions of phrase structure. Here, we identify a further subcomponent of syntactic reanalysis, namely the revision of case marking. This aspect of reanalysis was isolated by examining German subject-object ambiguities that require a revision towards a dative-initial order. Since dative-initial orders are potentially unmarked, no phrase structure corrections are required, but the original, preference-based nominative assignment must be revised. Experiment 1, an ERP study, revealed an N400 component for reanalysis of case marking, which contrasted with a P600 component for phrase structure revisions. The Ôreanalysis N400Õ was replicated in Experiment 2, which also showed that direct lexical support for a dative-initial order leads to a reduction of the effect. Finally, in Experiment 3, direct time course measures provided by the speed-accuracy trade-off (SAT) procedure supported the case reanalysis account by showing that conditions hypothesized to involve case reanalysis (dative-initial structures) require longer computation times than their nominative-initial counterparts. Lexeme-specific support for the dative-initial reading, however, does not lead to a faster computation of the target structure, but rather increases the likelihood that the correct interpretation will be computed. We interpret these findings as evidence for the general availability of an unmarked dative-nominative word order in German, the accessibility of which may be increased by lexical information. Moreover, the data show that syntactic reanalysis is not a homogeneous process, but may rather be subdivided along several dimensions that interact in determining overall garden path strength.
Journal of Experimental Psychology-learning Memory and Cognition, 2003
The authors demonstrate that intersentential context may influence syntactic integration processe... more The authors demonstrate that intersentential context may influence syntactic integration processes during online sentence comprehension, although this influence appears to be restricted to cases in which a contextual requirement must be fulfilled. By applying event-related brain potentials to the processing of clause-medial word order variations in German, the authors show that the local processing difficulty (a negativity from 300 to 450 ms) observed for object-initial sentences in a neutral context is also obtained in a (behaviorally) facilitating context in which the object is contextually given. By contrast, the processing pattern for a focused (questioned) initial object does not differ from that for a focused subject: both elicit a parietal positivity (280-480 ms) post-onset of the focused phrase. The authors interpret this early positivity as a general marker of focus integration, a process that appears to briefly supersede sentence-internal requirements.
Psychological Review, 2006
Real-time language comprehension is a principal cognitive ability and thereby relates to central ... more Real-time language comprehension is a principal cognitive ability and thereby relates to central properties of the human cognitive architecture. Yet how do the presumably universal cognitive and neural substrates of language processing relate to the astounding diversity of human languages (over 5,000)? The authors present a neurocognitive model of online comprehension, the extended argument dependency model (eADM), that accounts for cross-linguistic unity and diversity in the processing of core constituents (verbs and arguments). The eADM postulates that core constituent processing proceeds in three hierarchically organized phases: (1) constituent structure building without relational interpretation, (2) argument role assignment via a restricted set of cross-linguistically motivated information types (e.g., case, animacy), and (3) completion of argument interpretation using information from further domains (e.g., discourse context, plausibility). This basic architecture is assumed to be universal, with cross-linguistic variation deriving primarily from the information types applied in Phase 2 of comprehension. This conception can derive the appearance of similar neurophysiological and neuroanatomical processing correlates in seemingly disparate structures in different languages and, conversely, of cross-linguistic differences in the processing of similar sentence structures.
Language and Cognitive Processes, 2003
In this paper, we present experimental evidence for the existence of syntax-independent (viz. the... more In this paper, we present experimental evidence for the existence of syntax-independent (viz. thematic) reanalysis effects. In an experiment using event-related brain potentials (ERPs), we manipulated the thematic structure of the verb in transitive, unambiguously case marked German verb-final clauses such that the processing of this verb either confirmed the "canonical" hierarchical thematic ordering between the sentential arguments (active verbs) or required a reversal of this ordering (object-experiencer verbs). The latter elicited a parietal positivity between 300 and 600 ms post onset, which, as we argue, must be interpreted as reflecting a thematic reanalysis. The second experimental manipulation, i.e., a variation of word order (SO vs. OS), revealed an early positivity at the position of the second NP in dative-nominative (OS) structures. Again, we account for this effect in terms of a thematic reanalysis, which becomes necessary when the original interpretation of the initial argument as thematically highest-ranking must be revised. We conclude from our data that case marking languages such as German may employ non-syntactic processing routes to determine the thematic interpretation of a sentence.
Neuroimage, 2005
The present fMRI study aimed at identifying neural correlates of the syntax-semantics interface i... more The present fMRI study aimed at identifying neural correlates of the syntax-semantics interface in language comprehension. This was achieved by examining what we refer to as bargument hierarchy constructionQ, i.e., determining which participant in a sentence is the bActorQ and which is the bUndergoerQ of the event expressed by the verb. In order to identify the neural bases of argument hierarchy processing, we manipulated three factors known to influence the complexity of argument hierarchy construction in German, namely argument order, verb class and morphological ambiguity. Increased argument hierarchization demands engendered enhanced activation in a network of inferior frontal, posterior superior temporal, premotor and parietal areas. Moreover, components of this network were differentially modulated by the individual factors. In particular, the left posterior superior temporal sulcus showed an enhanced sensitivity for morphological information and the syntactic realization of the verbbased argument hierarchy, while the activation of the left inferior frontal gyrus (pars opercularis) corresponded to linearization demands and was independent of morphological information. We therefore argue that, for German, posterior superior temporal and inferior frontal regions engage in the extraction of actorhood from morphosyntactic structure and in the sequential realization of hierarchical interpretive dependencies, respectively.
Cognition, 2002
We show that online processing difficulties induced by word order variations in German cannot be ... more We show that online processing difficulties induced by word order variations in German cannot be attributed to the relative infrequency of the constructions in question, but rather appear to reflect the application of grammatical principles during parsing. Event-related brain potentials revealed that dative-marked objects in the initial position of an embedded sentence do not elicit a neurophysiologically distinct response from subjects, whereas accusative-marked objects do. These differences are predictable on the basis of grammatical distinctions (i.e. underlying linguistic properties), but not on the basis of frequency information (i.e. a superficial linguistic property). We therefore conclude that the former, but not the latter, guides syntactic integration during online parsing. q
Neuroreport, 2002
On the basis of an experiment using event-related brain potentials (EPRs), we argue that a charac... more On the basis of an experiment using event-related brain potentials (EPRs), we argue that a characterisation of language-related positivities as necessarily syntax-related is too restrictive. Our data show that, in verb-final German clauses, the processing of a verb which disconfirms the expectations with regard to the hierarchical thematic structure of a sentence (who is doing what to whom) gives rise to an early (200-600 ms) parietal positivity. Thus, positive ERP components elicited during language processing appear to be related to operations (most often revisions) applying to hierarchically structured linguistic information in general, rather than to syntactic structure in particular.
Previous empirical results have revealed an interesting correspondence between online language co... more Previous empirical results have revealed an interesting correspondence between online language comprehension strategies and typological distributions, namely a preference for accusative {S,A} alignment over ergative {S,O} alignment. In the processing domain, this preference is reflected in the preferred analysis of an initial ambiguous argument. In the typological domain, it can be seen in the higher tendency for language change to proceed from an {S,O} to an {S,A} alignment rather than vice versa. A correlation between these two observations would clearly be of interest for theoretical models of alignment patterns. However, before the assumption of such a correspondence is warranted, two problems need to be solved: (a) the time sensitivity of online processing data vs. the time insensitivity of typological distributions; and (b) the domain of application of the {S,A} preference in processing (identification of roles) and typology (roles being treated in the same way by some syntactic phenomenon). The present study, in which we examined the {S,A} preference in the processing of control constructions in Hindi, provides initial evidence that both of these problems can be overcome. On the basis of these empirical findings, we formulate a hypothesis about the correspondence between processing and typology and outline how it can be tested in future research. *
Cerebral Cortex, 2010
Low-frequency fluctuations (LFFs) are a major source of variation in fMRI data. This has been est... more Low-frequency fluctuations (LFFs) are a major source of variation in fMRI data. This has been established in numerous experiments-particularly in the resting state. Here we investigate LFFs in a task-dependent setting. We hypothesized that LFFs may contain information about cognitive networks that are specific to the overall task domain without being time locked to stimulus onsets. We analyzed data of 6 fMRI experiments, 4 of which belonged to the language domain. After regressing out specifics of the experimental design and low-pass filtering (<0.1 Hz), we found that the 4 language experiments produced a correlational pattern that was not present in the 2 nonlanguage studies. Specifically, a region in the posterior part of the left superior temporal sulcus/gyrus was consistently correlated with both the left Brodmann's area 44 and the left frontal operculum in all 4 language studies, whereas this correlation was not found in the 2 other experiments. This finding indicates the existence of a basic network that acts as a general framework for language processing. In contrast to networks obtained by a conventional conjunction analysis of activation maps, this network is independent of experimental specifics such as stimulus onsets and exists in the low-frequency range.
Neuroreport, 2008
This study provides evidence for the role of semantic composition in compound word processing. We... more This study provides evidence for the role of semantic composition in compound word processing. We examined the online processing of isolated two meaning unit compounds in Chinese, a language that uses compounding to 'disambiguate' meaning. Using auditory presentation, we manipulated the semantic meaning and syntactic category of the two meaning units forming a compound. Event-related brain potential-recordings revealed a significant influence of semantic information, which was reflected in an N400 signature for compounds whose meaning differed from the constituent meanings. This finding suggests that the combination of distinct constituent meanings to form an overall compound meaning consumes processing resources. By contrast, no comparable difference was observed based on syntactic category information. Our findings indicate that combinatory semantic processing at the word level correlates with N400 effects.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2007
& We report a series of event-related potential experiments designed to dissociate the functional... more & We report a series of event-related potential experiments designed to dissociate the functionally distinct processes involved in the comprehension of highly restricted lexical-semantic relations (antonyms). We sought to differentiate between influences of semantic relatedness (which are independent of the experimental setting) and processes related to predictability (which differ as a function of the experimental environment). To this end, we conducted three ERP studies contrasting the processing of antonym relations (black-white) with that of related (black-yellow) and unrelated (black-nice) word pairs. Whereas the lexical-semantic manipulation was kept constant across experiments, the experimental environment and the task demands varied: Experiment 1 presented the word pairs in a sentence context of the form The opposite of X is Y and used a sensicality judgment. Experiment 2 used a word pair presentation mode and a lexical decision task. Experiment 3 also examined word pairs, but with an antonymy judgment task. All three experiments revealed a graded N400 response (unrelated > related > antonyms), thus supporting the assumption that semantic associations are processed automatically. In addition, the experiments revealed that, in highly constrained task environments, the N400 gradation occurs simultaneously with a P300 effect for the antonym condition, thus leading to the superficial impression of an extremely ''reduced'' N400 for antonym pairs. Comparisons across experiments and participant groups revealed that the P300 effect is not only a function of stimulus constraints (i.e., sentence context) and experimental task, but that it is also crucially influenced by individual processing strategies used to achieve successful task performance. & D
Brain and Language, 2009
It has often been suggested that the role of Broca's region in sentence comprehension can be expl... more It has often been suggested that the role of Broca's region in sentence comprehension can be explained with reference to general cognitive mechanisms (e.g. working memory, cognitive control). However, the (language-related) basis for such proposals is often restricted to findings on English. Here, we argue that an extension of the database to other languages can shed new light on the types of mechanisms that an adequate account of Broca's region should be equipped to deal with. This becomes most readily apparent in the domain of word order variations, which we examined in German verb-final sentences using event-related fMRI. Our results showed that activation in the pars opercularis -a core subregion of Broca's area -was not only modulated by the relative ordering of subject and object, but also by a further factor known to affect word order in a number of languages, namely referentiality. Notably, the finding provides the first demonstration of a word order-related activation difference within subject-initial sentences in this region. Additional parametric analyses using individual behavioral data as predictors further attest to the independence of the pars opercularis activation from: (a) sentence acceptability, and (b) difficulty in performing the experimental (judgment) task. We argue that these and related findings attest to the need for a processing mechanism that can manipulate predicate-independent, interacting and hierarchically structured relational representations during real time comprehension. These properties pose a challenge to existing accounts of pars opercularis function.
Neuropsychologia, 2009
Classical views on the electrophysiology of language assume that different event-related potentia... more Classical views on the electrophysiology of language assume that different event-related potential (ERP) components index distinct linguistic subdomains. Hence, left-anterior negativities are often viewed as correlates of rule-based linguistic knowledge, whereas centro-parietal negativities (N400s) are taken to reflect (non-rule-based) semantic memory or aspects of lexical-semantic predictability. The present ERP study of case marking in Hindi challenges this clear-cut dichotomy. Though determined by a grammatical rule, the choice of subject case in Hindi is also interpretively relevant as it constrains the range of possible interpretations of the subject. For incorrect subject cases, we observed an N400, which was followed by a late positivity under certain circumstances. This finding suggests that violations of rule-based knowledge may engender an N400 when the rule is interpretively relevant.
Journal of Memory and Language, 2008
This paper examines the hypothesis that grammatical function reanalyses in simple sentences shoul... more This paper examines the hypothesis that grammatical function reanalyses in simple sentences should not be treated as phrase structure revisions, but rather as increased costs in ''linking" an argument from a syntactic to a semantic representation. To this end, we investigated whether subject-object reanalyses in German verb-final sentences can be associated with an electrophysiological processing signature that is distinct from the response typically engendered by structure-affecting reanalyses (the P600). We hypothesized that the previously observed heterogeneous ERP component pattern for subject-object reanalyses in German might be due to task-or strategy-related interactions between the critical processing mechanisms and the experimental environment. In order to minimize specific task influences, Experiment 1 therefore embedded subject-object ambiguities into short stories (presented auditorily). Constructions with dative and accusative objects both showed a biphasic N400-late positivity pattern for disambiguation towards an object-initial structure. These results thus contrast with previous findings, in showing that there is no principled difference in the component pattern for the two types of structures. This conclusion was confirmed by the results of Experiment 2, which presented the identical accusative sentences from Experiment 1 in isolation using two different tasks (comprehension vs. acceptability) and again revealed N400-late positivity responses. From the overall data pattern, we conclude that the N400 is a robust correlate of grammatical function reanalysis that occurs independently of any lexical factors and, consequently, that grammatical function reanalysis is functionally distinct from phrase structure reanalysis.
Cognition, 2008
A fundamental question in psycholinguistic research concerns the universality of comprehension st... more A fundamental question in psycholinguistic research concerns the universality of comprehension strategies. We investigated this issue by examining the so-called "subject preference" in Turkish, a language which allows for a natural (unmarked) object reading of an initial ambiguous argument. Using event-related brain potentials (ERPs), we observed increased processing diYculty in the form of a broadly distributed positivity when an initial ambiguous argument was disambiguated towards an object reading. This eVect was independent of the animacy (i.e. semantic subject prototypicality) of the ambiguous argument. Our results therefore speak in favour of a universal tendency to interpret the Wrst argument encountered as the "subject" of the clause, even in languages providing no obvious structural motivation for such a strategy. However, we argue that the underlying explanation for this preference must be modiWed in accordance with cross-linguistic considerations.
Brain and Language, 2008
We present two ERP studies on the processing of word order variations in Japanese, a language tha... more We present two ERP studies on the processing of word order variations in Japanese, a language that is suited to shedding further light on the implications of word order freedom for neurocognitive approaches to sentence comprehension. Experiment 1 used auditory presentation and revealed that initial accusative objects elicit increased processing costs in comparison to initial subjects (in the form of a transient negativity) only when followed by a prosodic boundary. A similar effect was observed using visual presentation in Experiment 2, however only for accusative but not for dative objects. These results support a relational account of word order processing, in which the costs of comprehending an object-initial word order are determined by the linearization properties of the initial object in relation to the linearization properties of possible upcoming arguments. In the absence of a prosodic boundary, the possibility for subject omission in Japanese renders it likely that the initial accusative is the only argument in the clause. Hence, no upcoming arguments are expected and no linearization problem can arise. A prosodic boundary or visual segmentation, by contrast, indicate an object-before-subject word order, thereby leading to a mismatch between argument ''prominence" (e.g. in terms of thematic roles) and linear order. This mismatch is alleviated when the initial object is highly prominent itself (e.g. in the case of a dative, which can bear the higher-ranking thematic role in a two argument relation). We argue that the processing mechanism at work here can be distinguished from more general aspects of ''dependency processing" in object-initial sentences.
Language and Cognitive Processes, 2009
In two visual ERP studies, we investigated whether Mandarin Chinese shows a subject-preference in... more In two visual ERP studies, we investigated whether Mandarin Chinese shows a subject-preference in spite of the controversial status of grammatical relations in this language. We compared ERP responses at the position of the verb and the second NP in object-verb-subject (OVS) and subject-verb-object (SVO) structures. While SVO is the basic word order in Chinese and OV with subject-drop is possible, OVS is strongly dispreferred. At the position of the verb, which disambiguated towards an object or a subject reading of NP1, Experiment 1 revealed an N400 for both subject-initial control conditions in comparison with the critical object-initial condition. Experiment 2 showed that this result was due to differences in lexical-semantic relatedness between NP1 and the verb. When these were controlled for, we observed an N400 for the disambiguation towards an object-initial order, i.e., evidence for a subject-preference. At the postverbal NP, the object-initial condition showed a biphasic N400-late positivity pattern in both experiments. We interpret the N400 as reflecting the processing of an unexpected argument and the late positivity as a correlate of a well-formedness mismatch. Overall, our results suggest that Mandarin Chinese shows a subject-preference for an initial argument, thus providing further converging support for the notion that the subject-preference might constitute a universal processing strategy. We argue that the functional basis for this strategy lies in cross-linguistically applicable economy principles that serve to constrain incremental interpretation.
Brain and Language, 2008
Two auditory ERP studies examined the role of animacy in sentence comprehension in Mandarin Chine... more Two auditory ERP studies examined the role of animacy in sentence comprehension in Mandarin Chinese by comparing active and passive sentences in simple verb-final (Experiment 1) and relative clause constructions (Experiment 2). In addition to the voice manipulation (which modulated the assignment of actor and undergoer roles to the arguments), both arguments were either animate or inanimate. This allowed us to examine the interplay of animacy with thematic interpretation. In Experiment 1, we observed no effect of animacy at NP1, but N400 effects for inanimate actor arguments in second position. This result mirrors previous findings in German, thus suggesting that an initial undergoer universally leads to the prediction of an ideal (animate) actor. We also observed an N400 effect for passive sentences with an inanimate initial (undergoer) argument. We attribute this effect to a language-specific property of the passive construction in Chinese, namely that the first argument is negatively affected by the event described (i.e. bears an experiencer role). Experiment 2 showed that both of these effects can also be observed in sentence constructions of another type, in which the critical information sources become available in a different order. These findings provide the first demonstration that the N400 is not only sensitive to general (universal) aspects of thematic processing (i.e. ''who is acting on whom'') but also to the interaction between thematic interpretation and language-specific pragmatic principles.
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Papers by Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky