What's different in second-language processing? Evidence from event-related brain potentials

German sentences which were either correct, contained a selectional restriction violation, or a word category violation were presented auditorily to 16 native speakers of German (L1 group) and to 16 native speakers of Russian, who had learned German after the age of 10 (L2 group). Semantic violations elicited an N400 effect for both groups, but with a reduced amplitude and a longer peak latency in the L2 group. Compared to correct sentences, sentences with a phrase structure violation elicited an early anterior negativity followed by a broad centro-parietal positivity in native speakers. By contrast, there was no differential modulation of the early anterior negativity in the L2 group. A late positivity was also elicited in the second language learners, but it was slightly delayed compared to that shown by native speakers. This pattern is discussed in terms of different degrees of automaticity with respect to the subprocesses involved in sentence comprehension.     

Effects of NP type on the resolution of word-order ambiguities

Locally ambiguous NP₁ NP₂ V clauses in Dutch are preferably assigned a subject-object rather than an object-subject interpretation, presumably on the basis of structurally based principles such as the Active-Filler Strategy. The present study investigates whether this preference can be affected by a nonconfigurational factor, namely the nature of NP₂. The type of an NP (indefinite NPs, full definite NPs, pronouns) conveys information about the discourse status of the NP referent, which, in turn, is associated with a specific syntactic position. More specifically, pronouns are used to refer to given, salient entities in the discourse (topics); and NPs with such referents are generally encoded in subject position. A self-paced reading experiment shows that NP₁ NP₂ V relative clauses are preferably interpreted as subject-object when NP₂ is a full definite NP (e.g., de vrouwen the women), but not when NP₂ is the second person pronoun jullie (you-PL). This suggests that the structural bias for a subject-first order is not as strong as has been previously assumed, but is influenced by discourse information encoded in the NPs. Implications for parsing models are discussed.     

The case for responsibility of the IT industry to promote equality for women in computing

This paper investigates the relationship between the role that information technology (IT) has played in the development of women’s employment, the possibility of women having a significant influence on the technology’s development, and the way that the IT industry perceives women as computer scientists, users and consumers. The industry’s perception of women and men is investigated through the portrayal of them in computing advertisements. While women are increasingly updating their technological skills and know-how, and through this process are entering some positions in the workplace traditionally occupied by men, these achievements are not mirrored in their social and occupational status. The computer industry and higher education have worryingly low numbers of women, while the possibility of women influencing the development of computer technology is just emerging in feminist research. This paper argues that, though the IT industry, through their self-regulatory codes, subscribes to equal treatment of sexes, races and persons with disabilities, the industry nevertheless paints a stereotyped picture of inequality when portraying men and women in computer advertisements. As long as such a perception of women prevails within the industry, it will stand as a barrier to women having equal access to computer technology. If advertisements influence the way society perceives major social constructs and issues, then the computing industry has a social responsibility to portray men and women in an equal and non-stereotypical fashion. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the ETHICOMP98 Conference, Rotterdam, Holland, March 1998.     

Test of a potential link between analytic and nonanalytic category learning and automatic, effortful processing

The link between automatic and effortful processing and nonanalytic and analytic category learning was evaluated in a sample of 29 college undergraduates using declarative memory, semantic category search, and pseudoword categorization tasks. Automatic and effortful processing measures were hypothesized to be associated with nonanalytic and analytic categorization, respectively. Results suggested that contrary to prediction strong criterion-attribute (analytic) responding on the pseudoword categorization task was associated with strong automatic, implicit memory encoding of frequency-of-occurrence information. Data are discussed in terms of the possibility that criterion-attribute category knowledge, once established, may be expressed with few attentional resources. The data indicate that attention resource requirements, even for the same stimuli and task, vary depending on the category rule system utilized. Also, the automaticity emerging from familiarity with analytic category exemplars is very different from the automaticity arising from extensive practice on a semantic category search task. The data do not support any simple mapping of analytic and nonanalytic forms of category learning onto the automatic and effortful processing dichotomy and challenge simple models of brain asymmetries for such procedures.     

Invidious Comparisons: Imagining a Psychology of Race and Gender Beyond Differences

Within psychology there is a longstanding debate concerning whether large, fundamental differences between races and genders exist. Much of this research involves comparisons that are invidious (offensively discriminating) and supports a political ideology in which members of different groups are held to be fundamentally different, alien, and therefore destined to different spheres. In this paper, specific factors are identified that make research on group differences more likely to produce distorted and partial findings. In addition, studies are cited whose methodological strategies offer insight into the processes that create and maintain group differences. Such research may illuminate not only the differences between groups, but also the very meaning of group categories. The process of scholarly peer review should become sensitive to the features that make comparisons invidious, so as to incorporate them into the criteria used to evaluate research.     

发展健康研究

试图讲座在健康研究中,如何适时、恰当并有效地把性别融合于其中,第一,我们应更注意健康研究的结果;第二,在健康研究中注重性别差异的意义;第三,分行性别健康的可持续性研究环境。     

Relationship Quality of Aggressive Children and Their Siblings: A Multiinformant, Multimeasure Investigation

Sibling influence on the learning and enactment of aggressive behavior has been consistently demonstrated in studies of sibling relationships. Available evidence suggests that, compared with nonaggressive children's sibling interactions, the sibling interactions of aggressive children are marked by more frequent, intense, and prolonged aggressive behaviors. Although research on normative and aggressive children's sibling interactions has increased recently, a number of limitations in this literature were addressed in this study by: (1) including both an aggressive and nonaggressive comparison group, (2) examining both positive and negative features of sibling relationships, (3) employing a multimethod/multiinformant approach to data collection, and (4) utilizing an improved self-report method. In support of our hypotheses and consistent with previous research, results showed that aggressive children's sibling relationships were marked by higher levels of observed conflict and lower levels of self-reported positive features. When gender was examined, results showed that older brother/younger sister dyads were characterized by higher levels of negative features and lower levels of positive features.     

Computational Versus Associative Models of Simple Conditioning

In associative models of simple conditioning, conductive connections (associations, Hebbian synapses) are strengthened by the repetitive temporal pairing of stimuli. The associations cause the animal to behave more adaptively, but they do not encode information about objectively specifiable properties of the conditioning experience. In information processing (computational) models, the temporal intervals in that experience are timed and the results recorded in memory for later use in computations that determine the decisions whether and when to respond to the conditioned stimulus. The predictions of these latter models depend on the ratios of remembered and currently experienced temporal intervals; hence, they are time-scale invariant. Two examples of empirical time-scale invariance are described: Neither the delay of reinforcement nor the ratio of reinforced to unreinforced presentations of the conditioned stimulus affects rates of acquisition and extinction. Time-scale invariance has far-reaching implications for models of the processes that underlie conditioning, for example, models of Hebbian synapses.     

Gender Differences in Depression

From early adolescence through adulthood, women are twice as likely as men to experience depression. Many different explanations for this gender difference in depression have been offered, but none seems to fully explain it. Recent research has focused on gender differences in stress responses, and in exposure to certain stressors. I review this research and describe how gender differences in stress experiences and stress reactivity may interact to create women's greater vulnerability to depression.     

How Do People Process Health Information? Applications in an Age of Individualized Communication

Advances in computer technology have made it possible to customize communication, including health-education materials, to the specific needs and interests of any individual. Studies show that individually tailored health-education materials are more effective than generic materials in promoting changes in a variety of health-related behaviors. Theory and research in information processing provide an explanation for why such materials are effective. This article discusses current research on how individuals process tailored health information, and discusses directions for future research in this area.