International Research Fellowship Program: Event-Related Potentials (ERP) Investigation of Russian Scrambling

0107374 Sekerina国际研究员奖励计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。 该计划的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，以及使用国外独特或互补的设施，专业知识和实验条件。Sekerina博士将与波茨坦大学语言学研究所的Matthias Schlesewsky博士合作，在德国的波茨坦进行俄语打乱的事件相关电位（ERP）技术研究。最近，随着对英语以外语言现象的比较心理语言学研究的兴趣日益浓厚，解决具有固定词序（英语）和灵活词序（德语）的语言的处理之间的差异问题已经成为可能。 这个研究项目将调查一个自由的语序语言，如俄语的发言者如何理解复杂的句子移动成分的问题。 我们的目标是在波茨坦的语言学研究所使用事件相关电位技术对母语为俄语的人进行一项试点实验。 事件相关电位是大脑自发电活动中的小脑电位。 它们的多维性使它们适合于区分性质不同的过程，以系统地研究语言处理，特别是在语义和句法领域。 实验的句子将是俄语结构与打乱和Wh-运动的Friederici，Schlesewsky和Fiebach使用的德语句子;从这个实验的结果将作为这个比较心理语言学项目的基线。 这项研究的结果将增加我们对人类思维如何与语言，大脑心理学和心理学相关的知识。

0107374SekerinaThe International Research Fellow Awards Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will provide three months of support to Dr. Irina A. Sekerina to work with Dr. Matthias Schlesewsky at the University of Potsdam's Institute of Linguistics in Potsdam, Germany on Event-Related Potentials (ERP) technique investigation of Russian scrambling.Recently, with interest growing in comparative psycholinguistic research focusing on linguistics phenomena in languages other than English, it has become possible to address the issue of differences between processing of languages with fixed (English) and flexible word order (German). This research project will investigate the question of how speakers of a free word order language such as Russian comprehend complex sentences with moved constituents. The goal is to conduct a pilot experiment with native Russian speakers using the Event-Related Potentials technique at the Institute of Linguistics in Potsdam. Event-related potentials are small brain potentials within the spontaneous electrical activity of the brain. Their multidimensional nature makes them suitable for differentiating between qualitatively different processes to systematically investigate language processing, particularly in the domains of semantics and syntax. The experimental sentences will be Russian constructions with Scrambling and Wh-Movement comparable to the German sentences used by Friederici, Schlesewsky, and Fiebach; results from this experiment will serve as a baseline for this comparative psycholinguistic project. The results of this study will increase our knowledge on how the human mind works in relationship to language, brain psychology, and psychology.