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

Sekerina, Irina A, Arlington VA

Investigators

Abstract

0107374 Sekerina The 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.