I'm interested in the processing of (seemingly) ambiguous sentences. These are sentences that potentially have multiple potential interpretations, such as sentences with pronouns or idioms. For interpreting these sentences correctly, the listeners need to combine different sources of information in a relative short time (for example, world knowledge, visual context, and preceding linguistic information).
My research focuses on 1) how listeners combine different sources of information during sentence processing, and 2) how regularities in the linguistic input may facilitate this process. I combine computational simulations (error-driven learning), experimental studies, and advanced statistical methods to answer my research questions.
PhD students
Current projects:
- Abby Toth
Topic: Influence of visual context on the acquisition of discourse processing.
Other supervisors are Prof. Petra Hendriks and Prof. Niels Taatgen - Mark Ji
Topic: Modeling infant's acquisition of rule-like algebraic patterns using PRIMs
Co-supervised by Prof. Niels Taatgen - Joshua Krause
Topic: Revealing the underlying mechanisms of language processing using machine learning techniques applied to neuro-physiological signals
Co-supervised by Prof. Jelmer Borst
Finished projects:
- Dorothée Hoppe (2022): Linear Order in Language: an error-driven learning account. PhD Thesis, University of Groningen. Cum laude.
Dorothée was co-supervised by Prof. Petra Hendriks (Faculty of Arts) and Dr. Michael Ramscar (University of Tübingen, Germany).
recent publications
Tomas O. Lentz, Jessie S. Nixon, and
Abigail G. Toth, Petra Hendriks, Niels A. Taatgen, &
Dorothée Hoppe, Petra Hendriks, Michael Ramscar, &