Time reference in aphasia:Evidence from Greek

Several studies have shown selective deficits in the production and comprehension of verb forms referring to the past. On the basis of this evidence the Past Discourse Linking Hypothesis (Bastiaanse et al., 2011) suggests that individuals with aphasia have difficulties with verb forms referring to the past, in comparison to non-past forms such as the present and the future. However, many studies provide counterevidence. This study presents a review of the literature and addresses the question of dissociation between the past and the non-past in aphasia in Greek, a language which distinguishes among three past forms. A mixed group of eight individuals with aphasia and a group of 10 non-brain-damaged speakers performed the two tasks of the Greek version of the Test for Assessing Reference of Time (Bastiaanse, Jonkers, & Thompson, 2008): a sentence completion task (primed by pictures) and a sentence-picture matching task. The sentence completion task tested the present, future and three past tenses: past perfective, past imperfective and present perfect. The sentence-picture matching task tested past perfective, present and future. The production data provide evidence for a deficit in the reference to the past but they also suggest difficulties with the future. Interestingly, a dissociation among the three past tenses tested was found. Above chance performance was found in comprehension across tenses. We consider possible accounts of the data and we discuss the implications of these findings for the Past Discourse Linking Hypothesis

The Effect of Clause Type on Long Extraction in German

Long extraction is the movement of a phrase over a clausal boundary. Although long extraction into embedded clauses used to be acceptable in previous stages of German, it is considered to be unacceptable in Modern German. In this paper, we first review experimental evidence from our ongoing investigation of long extraction in Modern German. We then present a new experiment which compares the acceptability of the four major types of long extraction: long topicalization, long extraction into comparative clauses, embedded wh-questions and relative clauses. In accordance with the prior literature, the results indicate that long extraction is of marginal acceptability in Modern German. Long extraction into comparative clauses was found to be most acceptable, followed by embedded wh-questions. Long extraction into relative clauses and long topicalization received the lowest acceptability ratings. Overall, the results show that long extraction into embedded clauses is no less acceptable than long extraction into main clauses. The experimental findings are corroborated by observations from a corpus study

Gender Marking and Clitic Pronoun Resolution in Simultaneous Bilingual Children

The acquisition of clitics still remains a highly controversial issue in Greek acquisition literature despite the bulk of studies performed. Object clitics have been shown to be early acquired by monolingual children in terms of production rates, whereas only highly proficient bilingual children achieve target-like performance. Crucially, errors in gender marking are persistent for monolingual and bilingual children even when adult-like production rates are achieved. This study aims to readdress the acquisition of clitics in an innovative way, by entering the variable of gender in an experimental design targeting to assess production and processing by bilingual and monolingual children. Moreover, we examined the role of language proficiency (in terms of general verbal intelligence and syntactic production abilities). The groups had comparable performance in both tasks (in terms of correct responses and error distribution in production and reaction times in comprehension). However, verbal intelligence had an effect on the performance of the monolingual but not of the bilingual group in the production task, and bilingual children were overall slower in the comprehension task. Syntactic production abilities did not have any effect. We argue that gender marking affects clitic processing, and we discuss the implications of our findings for bilingual acquisition

Vasiliki Koukoulioti's Quick Files

The Quick Files feature was discontinued and it’s files were migrated into this Project on March 11, 2022. The file URL’s will still resolve properly, and the Quick Files logs are available in the Project’s Recent Activity

Argument structure and inflection: a comparison between greek-speaking patients with aphasia and semantic dementia

This study addressed the question of the effect of argument structure on verbproduction and the interaction of verb inflection and verb argument structure inaphasia and semantic dementia. To this end, three verb classes were tested: unergative,unaccusative and transitive verbs with one object. Ten subjects with aphasia andseven with semantic dementia participated in the study. Experiment 1 (sentencecompletion) aimed at investigating the effect of argument structure on verb inflection.An interaction between verb class and tense was found for the aphasic group:unergative verbs were significantly more difficult to produce in past perfective thanunaccusatives, whereas the opposite was found for present tense. Τhese resultsendorse a deficit in diacritical encoding and retrieval. With respect to the participantswith semantic dementia their performance in experiment 1 showed that production ofpast perfective was spared, whilst production of present was impaired. This findingwas interpreted as a deficit in encoding – and probably – perceiving the dynamicfeatures of the imperfective aspect. Experiment 2 (sentence production) aimed atexploring the effect of argument structure on verb production. The results indicatedthat [-agentive] verbs, i.e. unaccusatives, are more difficult to produce than [+agentive]ones for the aphasic group. These findings are interpreted as a deficit in theprocessing of the lemma information. The participants with semantic dementiaperformed equally in all verb classes. The errors were, however, qualitativelydifferent for each verb class: the predominant error type for unergatives involved theproduction of light verbs, which indicates degraded lexical conceptual structurerepresentations. The most frequent error for unaccusatives was the production of a[+agentive] verb, which indicates lemma processing problems. Experiment 3 (tensedsentence production) showed that inflection does not have an effect on correct verband verb argument structure production neither for the aphasic nor for the semanticdementia group. However, there were individual cases where inflection productionhad negative or positive influence on verb production in both groups. Moreover,unaccusative verbs were more difficult to produce when a specific form of the verbwas required for the semantic dementia group, pointing to an effect of argumentstructure on inflection. All in all, the comparison between the two groups showedunaccusativity effect on verb production for both groups. Moreover, both groupsfailed to show any effect of inflection on verb and verb argument structure productionat least at the group level. The groups differed, however, with respect to the degree ofimpairment in producing verb inflection (experiment 1), with respect to thedegradation of the lexical conceptual structure representations (experiment 2) andregarding the effect of argument structure on inflection (experiment 3). These findingsare discussed against current theories of aphasic deficits and psycholinguistic modelsof sentence production.Η µελέτη αυτή αποσκοπεί στη διερεύνηση της επίδρασης της ορισµατικής δοµήςστην παραγωγή ρηµάτων και της αλληλεπίδρασης ανάµεσα σε ρηµατική κλίση καιορισµατική δοµή σε οµιλητές µε αφασία και σηµασιολογική άνοια. Συγκεκριµένα,εξετάστηκαν τρεις κατηγορίες ρηµάτων µε διαφορετική ορισµατική δοµή:ανεργαστικά, αναιτιατικά και µεταβατικά µε ένα αντικείµενο. Οι συµµετέχοντες ήτανδέκα οµιλητές µε αφασία και επτά µε σηµασιολογική άνοια. Το πείραµα 1(συµπλήρωση προτάσεων) στοχεύει στην διερεύνηση της επίδρασης της ορισµατικήςδοµής στην κλίση. Για την οµάδα των αφασικών συµµετεχόντων βρέθηκεαλληλεπίδραση ανάµεσα σε ρηµατική κατηγορία και χρόνο, µε τα ανεργαστικάρήµατα να είναι πιο δύσκολα από τα αναιτιατικά στον αόριστο, ενώ το αντίστροφοβρέθηκε για τον ενεστώτα. Αυτό το εύρηµα επιβεβαιώνει ένα έλλειµµα στηνκωδικοποίηση και ανάκληση των διακριτικών χαρακτηριστικών. Οι συµµετέχοντεςµε σηµασιολογική άνοια είχαν άψογη επίδοση στον αόριστο, ενώ η παραγωγή τουενεστώτα ήταν διαταραγµένη. Αυτό ερµηνεύτηκε ως έλλειµµα στην κωδικοποίηση -και πιθανά – αντίληψη των δυναµικών χαρακτηριστικών της όψης διαρκείας. Τοπείραµα 2 (παραγωγή προτάσεων) στοχεύει στην διερεύνηση της επιρροής τηςορισµατικής δοµής στην παραγωγή ρηµάτων. Τα αποτελέσµατα έδειξαν ότι τα [-δραστικά] ρήµατα, δηλ. τα αναιτιατικά, ήταν πιο δύσκολα από τα [+δραστικά] γιατην οµάδα των αφασικών συµµετεχόντων. Αυτό ερµηνεύτηκε ως έλλειµµαεπεξεργασίας των πληροφοριών του λήµµατος. Οι συµµετέχοντες µε σηµασιολογικήάνοια είχαν την ίδια επίδοση σε όλες τις ρηµατικές κατηγορίες. ∆ιαπιστώθηκαν,ωστόσο, ποιοτικές διαφορές ανάµεσα στις ρηµατικές κατηγορίες: για τα ανεργαστικάο κυρίαρχος τύπος λάθους ενέπλεκε την παραγωγή γενικών ρηµάτων, κάτι πουυποδεικνύει έλλειµµα στο επίπεδο της λεξικής εννοιολογικής δοµής. Ο συχνότεροςτύπος λάθους για τα αναιτιατικά ήταν η παραγωγή [+δραστικών] ρηµάτων, κάτι πουυποδεικνύει έλλειµµα στην επεξεργασία του λήµµατος. Το πείραµα 3 (παραγωγήπροτάσεων µε συγκεκριµένο Χρόνο/Όψη) έδειξε ότι η κλίση δεν επηρεάζει την ορθήπαραγωγή του ρήµατος και της ορισµατικής δοµής για καµία από τις δύο οµάδες.Ωστόσο, και στις δύο οµάδες εντοπίστηκαν περιπτώσεις για τις οποίες η κλίση είχεείτε ενισχυτική είτε αρνητική επίδραση. Επίσης, τα αναιτιατικά ρήµατα ήταν πιοδύσκολα στο πείραµα 3 από ότι στο πείραµα 2 για την οµάδα των συµµετεχόντων µεσηµασιολογική άνοια, πράγµα που υποδηλώνει επίδραση της ορισµατικής δοµής στηνκλίση για την οµάδα αυτή. Συνολικά, η σύγκριση ανάµεσα στις δύο οµάδες έδειξε ότιτα αναιτιατικά ρήµατα ήταν δύσκολα και για τις δύο. Επίσης η κλίση δεν φαίνεται ναεπιδρά στην παραγωγή των ρηµάτων και της ορισµατικής δοµής του για καµία οµάδα.Οι δύο οµάδες, ωστόσο, διέφεραν ως προς το βαθµό της µορφοσυντακτικήςδιαταραχής (πείραµα 1), ως προς την ύπαρξη ελλείµµατος στη λεξική εννοιολογικήδοµή (πείραµα 2) και ως προς την ύπαρξη επίδρασης της ορισµατικής δοµής στηνκλίση (πείραµα 3). Στη διατριβή αναπτύσσονται οι συνέπειες των ευρηµάτων αυτώνγια τις σύγχρονες νευρογλωσσολογικές θεωρίες και για τα ψυχογλωσσολογικάµοντέλα παραγωγής λόγου

Long Extraction in German

This project investigates long extraction (extraction of a wh-phrase or a relative pronoun out of a that-clause) in Germa

Tense and aspect in aphasia and semantic dementia

Impairment in past tense production as well as interaction between tense and aspect have been found in both fluent and non-fluent aphasia (e.g. Dragoy & Bastiaanse, 2013). Inflection has been found to be relatively preserved in semantic dementia (SD) (Thompson et al., 2012). The aims of the present study are a) to compare the morphosyntactic abilities of patients with aphasia and SD in tense and aspect marking and b) to explore the interaction of lexical (+/- telic) and grammatical (perfective/imperfective) aspect in aphasia and SD. A sentence completion task was administered to 30 native speakers of Greek: 10 patients with aphasia (6 anomic, 2 Wernicke and 2 agrammatic), 10 age and education-matched controls, 5 patients with SD and 5 controls. The material consisted of unergative, unaccusative and transitive verbs (12 of each verb class) and the participants had to apply present (imperfective) and past (perfective) tense. Unergative and unaccusative verbs differ in terms of their aspectual properties with the unergative being [-telic], and unaccusative [+telic]. Transitive verbs vary. A principal distinction between the tested conditions was the standard ummarked combination ([+telic] verbs in past perfective and [–telic] verbs in present imperfective) vs. the marked one ([+telic] verbs in present imperfective and [–telic] in past perfective). Both control groups performed at ceiling in all conditions. Aphasic participants were significantly more impaired than the control group in all conditions. SD participants were significantly more impaired than the controls only in the production of present tense (M-W U= 1.5, p= 0.024). There was no difference between past perfective and present imperfective for neither group, but there was an interaction between verb class and tense for the aphasic participants, as performance in unaccusative verbs in past perfective (unmarked condition) was significantly better than in unergatives in past perfective (marked condition) (Z=2.512, p=0.012) but performance in unaccusatives in present imperfective (marked condition) was significantly worse than performance in unergatives in present imperfective (unmarked condition) (Z=2.680, p=0.004). In sum, aphasic participants performed significantly better in the unmarked than in the marked conditions. Such an interaction was not found for the SD group. Aphasic participants performed significantly worse than the SD subjects in past perfective tense (M-W U= 7.5, p=0.029) in total, and the difference was significant only for unaccusative verbs (M-W U= 6.5, p=0.021), although both groups performed very well in this condition. There was no difference in present, neither for each verb class separately nor for the total score. A general past tense deficit cannot be upheld for either group. Rather, SD participants appear relatively impaired in producing present tense. We argue for slight morphosyntactic impairment in SD, although with a different underlying cause than in aphasia. Moreover, our data suggest an effect of aspectual markedness in aphasia but not in SD. We discuss this finding in the light of the different neuropathology of the two populations

Production of Complex Sentences in the Semantic Variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia: Neuropsychological, Clinical, Neuroanatomical and Demographic Correlates

Syntactic deficits are not a core symptom of the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA). However, some studies indicate syntactic impairments that deteriorate with progress of the disease. The study addresses the presence of a syntactic deficit and its association with clinical, neuropsychological, neuroanatomical and demographic variables. Nine individuals with svPPA were tested with a cognitive screening test (Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination, ACE-R), a language screening test (Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination—BDAE) and a syntactic test (object question elicitation). Additionally, the regional cerebral flow was measured with brain single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The results indicated significant impairment in the production of object questions for some patients. Performance on these clauses was not predicted by the ACE-R or by hypoperfusion in the language areas. While there was no evidence for an effect of disease duration on syntactic performance, the results reveal a potential effect of the age of symptom onset. Furthermore, the results reveal a significant association between the performance in BDAE and the years of education and production of object questions. Overall, these results indicate a significant specific deficit in syntax for some patients with svPPA and highlight the importance of the premorbid educational status for the progress of the disease

Gender Marking and Clitic Pronoun Resolution in Simultaneous Bilingual Children

The acquisition of clitics still remains a highly controversial issue in Greek acquisition literature despite the bulk of studies performed. Object clitics have been shown to be early acquired by monolingual children in terms of production rates, whereas only highly proficient bilingual children achieve target-like performance. Crucially, errors in gender marking are persistent for monolingual and bilingual children even when adult-like production rates are achieved. This study aims to readdress the acquisition of clitics in an innovative way, by entering the variable of gender in an experimental design targeting to assess production and processing by bilingual and monolingual children. Moreover, we examined the role of language proficiency (in terms of general verbal intelligence and syntactic production abilities). The groups had comparable performance in both tasks (in terms of correct responses and error distribution in production and reaction times in comprehension). However, verbal intelligence had an effect on the performance of the monolingual but not of the bilingual group in the production task, and bilingual children were overall slower in the comprehension task. Syntactic production abilities did not have any effect. We argue that gender marking affects clitic processing, and we discuss the implications of our findings for bilingual acquisition