The neurophysiological basis of word order variations in German

This paper aims to dissociate grammatical and general cognitive (e.g., working-memory based) accounts of the processing costs elicited by word order variations in German. To this end, we present a study using event-related brain potentials (ERPs), in which dislocated arguments were instantiated either by non-pronominal or by pronominal noun phrases. This manipulation allows for a dissociation of the two competing accounts, since only a dislocation of non-pronominal arguments gives rise to a non-canonical structure. The results show that (a) in sentences with non-pronominal arguments, the determiner of a non-canonical noun phrase elicited a broadly distributed negativity, and (b) in sentences with pronominal arguments, no differences were observed for object- vs. subject-initial word orders. These findings show that the human parser is sensitive to fine-grained grammatical regularities. We therefore argue that the negativity is a reflection of a local syntactic mismatch, rather than of an increase in working-memory load.     

Grammar overrides frequency: evidence from the online processing of flexible word order

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.     

Every light has its shadow: a longitudinal study of transformational leadership and leaders’ emotional exhaustion

This study investigated the effects of transformational and laissez‐faire leadership on leaders’ own emotional exhaustion over time. Participants were 2,324 subordinates and 76 supervisors of a services company in Germany. Regression analysis revealed direct longitudinal health‐hampering effects of transformational and laissez‐faire leadership on leaders’ emotional exhaustion. Building on Hobfoll's Conservation of Resources theory (1989), our results showed that the longitudinal health‐hampering effects of transformational leadership would be particularly pronounced for leaders with high levels of organization‐based self‐esteem. Our findings extend the research on potential dark sides of transformational and laissez‐faire leadership as well as organization‐based self‐esteem by focusing on leader‐centered outcomes.     

Youth Sensitivity in a Pandemic: The Relationship Between Sensory Processing Sensitivity,Internalizing Problems,COVID-19 and Parenting

Journal of Child and Family Studies - The personality trait sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) is an established risk factor for the development of internalizing problems. Highly sensitive...