PIs: Thomas Jacobsen and Hubert Truckenbrodt (ZAS Berlin)
Researchers: Johanna Steinberg and Thomas Konstantin Jacobsen
This project is funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG) in the frame of the Priority Programme (SPP) 1234 “Phonological and phonetic competence: between grammar, signal processing, and neural activity”. Our research program connects cognitive neuroscience with linguistic phonological theory. It applies cognitive neuroscientific investigation of event-related potentials (ERP), using mismatch negativitity (MMN) paradigms, to phonotactic restrictions that stem from the phonological constraint of Dorsal Fricative Assimilation in German. Special attention is given to the question of the (psychologically) pre-attentive status of phonotactic processing, which meets with the (linguistic) expectation that linguistic competence is put to use without a conscious effort.
The interdisciplinary project investigates neurological effects of phonotactic constraints in German (e.g. the constraint that underlies the two different pronuciations of “ch” in “ich” and “ach”). In psychological terms, we establish the preattentive relevance of these linguistic constraints using Mismatch Negativity protocols. In linguistic terms, we document the psychological reality of constraints of phonological theory.
We started with a number of investigations on Dorsal Fricative Assimilation (concerning the sounds in “ich” vs. “ach”), where we documented EEG responses to ill-matched sequendes of vowel and fricative in the MMN deviant. We are continuing with an investigation of G-Deletion (g is deleted in “Fang” but d is not deleted in “fand”) and of Final Devoicing (“s” is voiced in “Muse” but not in “Mus”).
Journal publications:
Steinberg, J., Jacobsen, T. K. & Jacobsen, T. (2016). Repair or violation detection? Pre-attentive processing strategies of phonotactic illegality demonstrated on the constraint of g-deletion in German. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 59, 557-571.
Truckenbrodt, H., Steinberg, J., Jacobsen, T.K., & Jacobsen, T. (2014). Evidence for the role of German final devoicing in pre-attentive speech processing: a mismatch negativity study. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1317.
Jacobsen, T.K., Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2013). Mismatch negativity (MMN) to successive deviants within one hierarchically structured auditory object. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 87(1), 1-7.
Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2012). The role of stimulus cross-splicing in an event-related potentials study. Misleading formant transitions hinder automatic phonological processing. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 131(4), 3120-3140.
Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2011). Phonotactic constraint violations in German grammar are detected automatically in auditory speech processing – a human event-related potentials study. Psychophysiology, 48(9), 1208-1216.
Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2010). Preattentive phonotactic processing as indexed by the mismatch negativity. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22(10), 2174-2185.
Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2010). Activation and application of an obligatory phonotactic constraint in German during automatic speech processing is revealed by human event-related potentials. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 77(1), 13-20.
Posters and talks: Jacobsen, T., Truckenbrodt, H., Steinberg, J. & Jacobsen, T.K. (2012, July). Dorsal fricative assimilation and mismatch negativity. Paper presented at “Phonological and phonetic competence: between grammar, signal processing, and neural activity. Final symposium of the DFG Priority programme 1234”. Satellite workshop of The 13th Conference on Laboratory Phonology, Stuttgart.
Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2012, May). The MMN as an index of automatic phonotactic evaluation. Paper presented at the Sixth Conference on Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and its Clinical and Scientific Application, New York City, USA.Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2012, May). Caution with manipulated speech stimuli: Phonetic violations caused by stimulus cross-splicing interfere with phonological processing. Poster presented at the 6th Conference on Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and its Clinical and Scientific Application, New York City, USA.
Jacobsen, T.K., Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H., Jacobsen, T. (2011, September). Pre-attentive phonotactic processing. Paper presented at the SPP 1234 6th annual meeting, Marburg.
Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2011, September). Misleading phonetic information due to stimulus cross-splicing is processed automatically: An MMN study. Poster presented at the 51st Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Boston, USA.
Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2011, März). Automatische Detektion phonotaktischer Constraint-Verletzungen – eine ERP-Studie. Vortrag gehalten auf der 53. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen, Halle-Wittenberg.
Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2010, October). Automatische Detektion phonotaktischer Constraint-Verletzungen – eine ERP-Studie. Poster presented at KogWis 2010 – The 10th Biannual Meeting of the German Society for Cognitive Science, Potsdam.
Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2009, October). Automatic processing of phonotactically ill-formed syllables indexed by mismatch negativity (MMN). Poster presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Society-for-Psychophysiological-Research, Berlin, Germany.
Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2009, Juni). Mismatch Negativity (MMN) als Indikator für die prä-attentive Verarbeitung einer obligatorischen phonotaktischen Beschränkung. Poster präsentiert auf der 35. Arbeitstagung Psychophysiologie und Methodik, Leipzig.
Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2009, April). The obligatory phonotactic constraint of Dorsal Fricative Assimilation in German is activated and applied during automatic speech processing. Poster presented at the Fifth Conference on Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and its Clinical and Scientific Applications, Budapest, Hungary.
Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2009, März). The obligatory phonotactic constraint of Dorsal Fricative Assimilaton is activated and applied during automatic speech processing. Poster präsentiert auf der 51. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen, Jena.
Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2008, Mai). Mismatch Negativity (MMN) als Indikator für die prä-attentive Verarbeitung von phonotaktischen Beschränkungen. Poster präsentiert auf der Tagung Psychologie und Gehirn 2008, Magdeburg.
Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2008, March). Phonotactic processing outside the focus of attention. Paper presented at the SPP-1234 Workshop on Neurophonology of Speech Perception, Konstanz.
Steinberg, J., Truckenbrodt, H. & Jacobsen, T. (2007, November). MMN als Indikator für die prä-attentive Verarbeitung von phonotaktischen Beschränkungen. Poster präsentiert auf dem 3. Jahrestag des Zentrums für Kognitionswissenschaften 2007, Leipzig.
Jacobsen, T., Steinberg, J. & Truckenbrodt, H. (2007, October). Pre-attentive phonotactic processing. Paper presented at the 2nd annual meeting of the SPP 1234, Nijmegen.
Letzte Änderung: 2. February 2018