Lars Konieczny | Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg (original) (raw)

Papers by Lars Konieczny

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2010

Expectations about alternative constructions play a crucial role in anaphora resolution. In a sel... more Expectations about alternative constructions play a crucial role in anaphora resolution. In a self-paced reading experiment, we presented Portuguese sentences, consisting of a main clause with two referents, followed by a subclause with a pronoun referring unambiguously to one of the referents. The sentences varied in the kind of subordinating conjunction: 'antes que' (before) vs. 'quando' (when). On the pronoun and the spill-over, there is a clear decrease in reading times for the conjunction 'antes que' in the object coreference condition, whereas no difference was not found for 'quando'. These results can be explained by comprehenders using an expectation-based strategy: in Portuguese, for sentences with 'antes que' there is a frequent alternative infinitive construction (antes de abrir: before opening), which allows coreference only with the subject of the preceding clause. Upon seeing the subordinate construction, comprehenders may assume that the speaker intended coreference with an antecedent other than the subject.

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2010

We present two visual world studies indicating that local syntactic coherences interact with bind... more We present two visual world studies indicating that local syntactic coherences interact with binding constraints (Chomsky, 1981) of both reflexives and pronouns. Gazes to depicted referents or events suggest that when sentences containing a local coherence with a pronoun or reflexive are presented, locally coherent antecedents become activated. Our results strengthen the assumption that local syntactic coherences are interpreted and extend the effect to online anaphora resolution and complementary binding constraints.

Frontiers in Psychology, Feb 13, 2023

In reading conventional poems aloud, the rhythmic experience is coupled with the projection of me... more In reading conventional poems aloud, the rhythmic experience is coupled with the projection of meter, enabling the prediction of subsequent input. However, it is unclear how top-down and bottom-up processes interact. If the rhythmicity in reading loud is governed by the top-down prediction of metric patterns of weak and strong stress, these should be projected also onto a randomly included, lexically meaningless syllable. If bottom-up information such as the phonetic quality of consecutive syllables plays a functional role in establishing a structured rhythm, the occurrence of the lexically meaningless syllable should affect reading and the number of these syllables in a metrical line should modulate this effect. To investigate this, we manipulated poems by replacing regular syllables at random positions with the syllable "tack". Participants were instructed to read the poems aloud and their voice was recorded during the reading. At the syllable level, we calculated the syllable onset interval (SOI) as a measure of articulation duration, as well as the mean syllable intensity. Both measures were supposed to operationalize how strongly a syllable was stressed. Results show that the average articulation duration of metrically strong regular syllables was longer than for weak syllables. This effect disappeared for "tacks". Syllable intensities, on the other hand, captured metrical stress of "tacks" as well, but only for musically active participants. Additionally, we calculated the normalized pairwise variability index (nPVI) for each line as an indicator for rhythmic contrast, i.e., the alternation between long and short, as well as louder and quieter syllables, to estimate the influence of "tacks" on reading rhythm. For SOI the nPVI revealed a clear negative effect: When "tacks" occurred, lines appeared to be read less altering, and this effect was proportional to the number of tacks per line. For intensity, however, the nPVI did not capture significant effects. Results suggests that top-down prediction does not always suffice to maintain a rhythmic gestalt across a series of syllables that carry little bottom-up prosodic information. Instead, the constant integration of sufficiently varying bottomup information appears necessary to maintain a stable metrical pattern prediction.

Journal of Eye Movement Research, Sep 14, 2021

The present study investigates effects of conventionally metered and rhymed poetry on eyemovement... more The present study investigates effects of conventionally metered and rhymed poetry on eyemovements in silent reading. Readers saw MRRL poems (i.e., metrically regular, rhymed language) in two layouts. In poem layout, verse endings coincided with line breaks. In prose layout verse endings could be mid-line. We also added metrical and rhyme anomalies. We hypothesized that silently reading MRRL results in building up auditive expectations that are based on a rhythmic "audible gestalt" and propose that rhythmicity is generated through subvocalization. Our results revealed that readers were sensitive to rhythmic-gestalt-anomalies but showed differential effects in poem and prose layouts. Metrical anomalies in particular resulted in robust reading disruptions across a variety of eye-movement measures in the poem layout and caused re-reading of the local context. Rhyme anomalies elicited stronger effects in prose layout and resulted in systematic re-reading of pre-rhymes. The presence or absence of rhythmic-gestalt-anomalies, as well as the layout manipulation, also affected reading in general. Effects of syllable number indicated a high degree of subvocalization. The overall pattern of results suggests that eye-movements reflect, and are closely aligned with, the rhythmic subvocalization of MRRL. This study introduces a two-stage approach to the analysis of long MRRL stimuli and contributes to the discussion of how the processing of rhythm in music and speech may overlap.

Eye tracking has become a common method for addressing different topics in the domain of spatial ... more Eye tracking has become a common method for addressing different topics in the domain of spatial cognition. However, most studies use stationary eye tracking devices to get insights into the cognitive processes of spatial navigation and wayfinding. We argue that these studies may miss important factors, because body movement and orientation as well as the complexity of real-world perceptions have a strong influence on the processing of environmental information and on spatial decision making. We propose conducting lab and field studies using stationary and mobile eye tracking devices to investigate the degree of comparability of these accounts and to ensure the ecological validity of lab-based eye tracking studies in spatial navigation tasks. We aim to identify the criteria for designing insightful lab-based eye tracking studies in the spatial domain.

This paper addresses the question whether possible alternative constructions and alternative choi... more This paper addresses the question whether possible alternative constructions and alternative choices of referring expressions influence the resolution of anaphoric expressions. We present a questionnaire, a self-paced reading study and a corpus analysis, suggesting that alternative constructions and referring expressions help to constitute preferences for anaphora in referentially ambiguous sentences and also affect on-line sentence processing.

Journal of Eye Movement Research, 2021

The present study investigates effects of conventionally metered and rhymed poetry on eye-movemen... more The present study investigates effects of conventionally metered and rhymed poetry on eye-movements in silent reading. Readers saw MRRL poems (i.e., metrically regular, rhymed language) in two layouts. In poem layout, verse endings coincided with line breaks. In prose layout verse endings could be mid-line. We also added metrical and rhyme anomalies. We hypothesized that silently reading MRRL results in building up auditive expectations that are based on a rhythmic “audible gestalt” and propose that rhythmicity is generated through subvocalization. Our results revealed that readers were sensitive to rhythmic-gestalt-anomalies but showed differential effects in poem and prose layouts. Metrical anomalies in particular resulted in robust reading disruptions across a variety of eye-movement measures in the poem layout and caused re-reading of the local context. Rhyme anomalies elicited stronger effects in prose layout and resulted in systematic re-reading of pre-rhymes. The presence or ...

Mobile eye tracking has become a fruitful method for spatial research. Body movement and orientat... more Mobile eye tracking has become a fruitful method for spatial research. Body movement and orientation as well as the complexity of real-world surroundings have a strong influence on the processing of environmental information that can be captured by mobile eye tracking devices. On a methodological level, perceiv-er locomotion is both a challenge due to the complexity of the data, as well as a valuable resource of information. In this paper we propose a new approach to integrate observer location information and fixation data using sight vectors. This method is a crucial step towards furthering the analysis of mobile eye tracking data and the understanding of the perception of moving observers in complex environments.

Abstract, When following a negated matrix clause, adverbial clauses (ACs) like “because it was pa... more Abstract, When following a negated matrix clause, adverbial clauses (ACs) like “because it was paid very well” in (1) can be interpreted as residing within the scope of the negation (1b), or outside of it (1)., (1),a. Peterdid not quit hisjob because itwas,paid verywell b. Peter did not quit hisjob because it was paid very badly., Depending on the scope of the negative, the interpretation differsdram atically: WhereasP eter did in fact not quit his job in(1a), he did so in (1b), but for yet unknown reasons. It has been shown for English (see Frazier & Clifton, 1996), that there is a preference to interpret the ,adverbial clause outside ofthe,scope of ,the negation so ,that (1b) appears fairly odd. This observation ,challenges ,recency based ,processing principles, such as late closure, since the high attachment (to IP) appears to be preferred,over low,attachment (to VP) (see figure 1). In this paper, we will present evidence on German equivalents of (1a,b), varyingthe order of the n...

Many theories of verbal humour postulate that the funniness of jokes is caused by an incongruency... more Many theories of verbal humour postulate that the funniness of jokes is caused by an incongruency in the punchline whose resolution yields a feeling of mirth. While there are studies testing the prediction that this situation model updating leads to increases in processing costs, there are few studies directly assessing the time course of when the alternative situation models are entertained. In a visual world paradigm, stories were presented auditorily and displays were presented illustrating either the situation implied by the context or the final interpretation after the punchline. Eye movement data confirmed the switch from the initial to the final interpretation for jokes as well as for non-funny control stories that also required a situation model revision. In addition to these effects of the cognitive revision requirements, the pupil dilations were sensitive to the affective component of joke comprehension. These results are discussed in light of incongruency theories of verb...

Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 2022

Resonanz - Rhythmus - Synchronisierung, 2017

Journal of Psychology Research, 2013

Driving a car is obviously a complex task and the construction of an ACT-R model of human attenti... more Driving a car is obviously a complex task and the construction of an ACT-R model of human attention while performing this task is similarly complex along multiple dimensions and presents a challenge to architecture and modeler. This work is a first attempt to develop an integrated driver model of attention in the cognitive architecture ACT-R. The model is able to keep a traffic lane, identifies traffic signs and crossroads in a sparse, simulated environment.

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2010

Expectations about alternative constructions play a crucial role in anaphora resolution. In a sel... more Expectations about alternative constructions play a crucial role in anaphora resolution. In a self-paced reading experiment, we presented Portuguese sentences, consisting of a main clause with two referents, followed by a subclause with a pronoun referring unambiguously to one of the referents. The sentences varied in the kind of subordinating conjunction: 'antes que' (before) vs. 'quando' (when). On the pronoun and the spill-over, there is a clear decrease in reading times for the conjunction 'antes que' in the object coreference condition, whereas no difference was not found for 'quando'. These results can be explained by comprehenders using an expectation-based strategy: in Portuguese, for sentences with 'antes que' there is a frequent alternative infinitive construction (antes de abrir: before opening), which allows coreference only with the subject of the preceding clause. Upon seeing the subordinate construction, comprehenders may assume that the speaker intended coreference with an antecedent other than the subject.

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2010

We present two visual world studies indicating that local syntactic coherences interact with bind... more We present two visual world studies indicating that local syntactic coherences interact with binding constraints (Chomsky, 1981) of both reflexives and pronouns. Gazes to depicted referents or events suggest that when sentences containing a local coherence with a pronoun or reflexive are presented, locally coherent antecedents become activated. Our results strengthen the assumption that local syntactic coherences are interpreted and extend the effect to online anaphora resolution and complementary binding constraints.

Frontiers in Psychology, Feb 13, 2023

In reading conventional poems aloud, the rhythmic experience is coupled with the projection of me... more In reading conventional poems aloud, the rhythmic experience is coupled with the projection of meter, enabling the prediction of subsequent input. However, it is unclear how top-down and bottom-up processes interact. If the rhythmicity in reading loud is governed by the top-down prediction of metric patterns of weak and strong stress, these should be projected also onto a randomly included, lexically meaningless syllable. If bottom-up information such as the phonetic quality of consecutive syllables plays a functional role in establishing a structured rhythm, the occurrence of the lexically meaningless syllable should affect reading and the number of these syllables in a metrical line should modulate this effect. To investigate this, we manipulated poems by replacing regular syllables at random positions with the syllable "tack". Participants were instructed to read the poems aloud and their voice was recorded during the reading. At the syllable level, we calculated the syllable onset interval (SOI) as a measure of articulation duration, as well as the mean syllable intensity. Both measures were supposed to operationalize how strongly a syllable was stressed. Results show that the average articulation duration of metrically strong regular syllables was longer than for weak syllables. This effect disappeared for "tacks". Syllable intensities, on the other hand, captured metrical stress of "tacks" as well, but only for musically active participants. Additionally, we calculated the normalized pairwise variability index (nPVI) for each line as an indicator for rhythmic contrast, i.e., the alternation between long and short, as well as louder and quieter syllables, to estimate the influence of "tacks" on reading rhythm. For SOI the nPVI revealed a clear negative effect: When "tacks" occurred, lines appeared to be read less altering, and this effect was proportional to the number of tacks per line. For intensity, however, the nPVI did not capture significant effects. Results suggests that top-down prediction does not always suffice to maintain a rhythmic gestalt across a series of syllables that carry little bottom-up prosodic information. Instead, the constant integration of sufficiently varying bottomup information appears necessary to maintain a stable metrical pattern prediction.

Journal of Eye Movement Research, Sep 14, 2021

The present study investigates effects of conventionally metered and rhymed poetry on eyemovement... more The present study investigates effects of conventionally metered and rhymed poetry on eyemovements in silent reading. Readers saw MRRL poems (i.e., metrically regular, rhymed language) in two layouts. In poem layout, verse endings coincided with line breaks. In prose layout verse endings could be mid-line. We also added metrical and rhyme anomalies. We hypothesized that silently reading MRRL results in building up auditive expectations that are based on a rhythmic "audible gestalt" and propose that rhythmicity is generated through subvocalization. Our results revealed that readers were sensitive to rhythmic-gestalt-anomalies but showed differential effects in poem and prose layouts. Metrical anomalies in particular resulted in robust reading disruptions across a variety of eye-movement measures in the poem layout and caused re-reading of the local context. Rhyme anomalies elicited stronger effects in prose layout and resulted in systematic re-reading of pre-rhymes. The presence or absence of rhythmic-gestalt-anomalies, as well as the layout manipulation, also affected reading in general. Effects of syllable number indicated a high degree of subvocalization. The overall pattern of results suggests that eye-movements reflect, and are closely aligned with, the rhythmic subvocalization of MRRL. This study introduces a two-stage approach to the analysis of long MRRL stimuli and contributes to the discussion of how the processing of rhythm in music and speech may overlap.

Eye tracking has become a common method for addressing different topics in the domain of spatial ... more Eye tracking has become a common method for addressing different topics in the domain of spatial cognition. However, most studies use stationary eye tracking devices to get insights into the cognitive processes of spatial navigation and wayfinding. We argue that these studies may miss important factors, because body movement and orientation as well as the complexity of real-world perceptions have a strong influence on the processing of environmental information and on spatial decision making. We propose conducting lab and field studies using stationary and mobile eye tracking devices to investigate the degree of comparability of these accounts and to ensure the ecological validity of lab-based eye tracking studies in spatial navigation tasks. We aim to identify the criteria for designing insightful lab-based eye tracking studies in the spatial domain.

This paper addresses the question whether possible alternative constructions and alternative choi... more This paper addresses the question whether possible alternative constructions and alternative choices of referring expressions influence the resolution of anaphoric expressions. We present a questionnaire, a self-paced reading study and a corpus analysis, suggesting that alternative constructions and referring expressions help to constitute preferences for anaphora in referentially ambiguous sentences and also affect on-line sentence processing.

Journal of Eye Movement Research, 2021

The present study investigates effects of conventionally metered and rhymed poetry on eye-movemen... more The present study investigates effects of conventionally metered and rhymed poetry on eye-movements in silent reading. Readers saw MRRL poems (i.e., metrically regular, rhymed language) in two layouts. In poem layout, verse endings coincided with line breaks. In prose layout verse endings could be mid-line. We also added metrical and rhyme anomalies. We hypothesized that silently reading MRRL results in building up auditive expectations that are based on a rhythmic “audible gestalt” and propose that rhythmicity is generated through subvocalization. Our results revealed that readers were sensitive to rhythmic-gestalt-anomalies but showed differential effects in poem and prose layouts. Metrical anomalies in particular resulted in robust reading disruptions across a variety of eye-movement measures in the poem layout and caused re-reading of the local context. Rhyme anomalies elicited stronger effects in prose layout and resulted in systematic re-reading of pre-rhymes. The presence or ...

Mobile eye tracking has become a fruitful method for spatial research. Body movement and orientat... more Mobile eye tracking has become a fruitful method for spatial research. Body movement and orientation as well as the complexity of real-world surroundings have a strong influence on the processing of environmental information that can be captured by mobile eye tracking devices. On a methodological level, perceiv-er locomotion is both a challenge due to the complexity of the data, as well as a valuable resource of information. In this paper we propose a new approach to integrate observer location information and fixation data using sight vectors. This method is a crucial step towards furthering the analysis of mobile eye tracking data and the understanding of the perception of moving observers in complex environments.

Abstract, When following a negated matrix clause, adverbial clauses (ACs) like “because it was pa... more Abstract, When following a negated matrix clause, adverbial clauses (ACs) like “because it was paid very well” in (1) can be interpreted as residing within the scope of the negation (1b), or outside of it (1)., (1),a. Peterdid not quit hisjob because itwas,paid verywell b. Peter did not quit hisjob because it was paid very badly., Depending on the scope of the negative, the interpretation differsdram atically: WhereasP eter did in fact not quit his job in(1a), he did so in (1b), but for yet unknown reasons. It has been shown for English (see Frazier & Clifton, 1996), that there is a preference to interpret the ,adverbial clause outside ofthe,scope of ,the negation so ,that (1b) appears fairly odd. This observation ,challenges ,recency based ,processing principles, such as late closure, since the high attachment (to IP) appears to be preferred,over low,attachment (to VP) (see figure 1). In this paper, we will present evidence on German equivalents of (1a,b), varyingthe order of the n...

Many theories of verbal humour postulate that the funniness of jokes is caused by an incongruency... more Many theories of verbal humour postulate that the funniness of jokes is caused by an incongruency in the punchline whose resolution yields a feeling of mirth. While there are studies testing the prediction that this situation model updating leads to increases in processing costs, there are few studies directly assessing the time course of when the alternative situation models are entertained. In a visual world paradigm, stories were presented auditorily and displays were presented illustrating either the situation implied by the context or the final interpretation after the punchline. Eye movement data confirmed the switch from the initial to the final interpretation for jokes as well as for non-funny control stories that also required a situation model revision. In addition to these effects of the cognitive revision requirements, the pupil dilations were sensitive to the affective component of joke comprehension. These results are discussed in light of incongruency theories of verb...

Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 2022

Resonanz - Rhythmus - Synchronisierung, 2017

Journal of Psychology Research, 2013

Driving a car is obviously a complex task and the construction of an ACT-R model of human attenti... more Driving a car is obviously a complex task and the construction of an ACT-R model of human attention while performing this task is similarly complex along multiple dimensions and presents a challenge to architecture and modeler. This work is a first attempt to develop an integrated driver model of attention in the cognitive architecture ACT-R. The model is able to keep a traffic lane, identifies traffic signs and crossroads in a sparse, simulated environment.