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Public lecture: Dr. Sabine Weiss

On November 15th, a public lecture will be given as part of the research unit.


Speaker: Dr. Sabine Weiss, Cognitive Science Department, Osnabrück University


Subject: Neuronal oscillations as correlates of distinct aspects of linguistic performance

Abstract:
In the talk I will argue for a relation of various brain oscillations to different aspects of word and sentence processing. In particular, the concept of neuronal synchronization in the sense of an exact temporal tuning of neuronal activity within different EEG-frequencies will be elucidated. As an example, evidence for a physiological reality of certain linguistic categories such as concrete and abstract nouns could only be found in higher frequency bands of the EEG signals. Instantaneous phase estimation allows for demonstrating that information transfer is slower for concrete nouns possibly due to multiple semantic resources used, and that the direction of information transfer between hemispheres differs for word categories.
Different aspects of sentence processing (e.g., attention, working memory, thematic role assignment, semantic-pragmatic and syntactic analysis) seem to be reflected by synchronization networks within different frequency bands, too. Neuronal information transfer via frequency coding is possibly one of the mechanisms which facilitate parallel processing within the brain, since a single signal may contain different aspects of information within various frequency ranges.


Time: Wednesday, 15.11.2006, 2-4 pm


Place: Building 26.11, Auditorium 6B

 
 


Public lecture: Prof. Friederike Moltmann

 

On June 7th, a public lecture will be given as part of the research unit.

 

Speaker: Prof. Friederike Moltmann, Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques (IHPST), University of Paris

 

Subject: Comparative without degrees

 

Abstract: Comparatives such as 'John is happier than Mary' are commonly analysed by making use of degrees (roughly, 'The degree of happiness of John exceeds the degree of happiness of Mary'). In the talk I will argue against such an account and in favor of an account that (1) makes use of particularized properties or 'tropes' and (2) makes use of 'implicit nominalization'. According to that analysis, roughly, 'John is happier than Mary' is analysed as 'John's happiness exceeds Mary's happiness. I will show that comparatives are closely related semantically to nominalizations in various respects.

 

Time: 07.06.2006, 2-4 pm

 

Place: Building 26.11, Auditorium 6D