How different aspects of language processing depend on attention: Variability and its Limits (B09*)

• Subject Area: General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages ; Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 317633480

Project B09 examines how fluctuating attention ("mindless reading") affects hierarchical language processing. The "levels-of-inattention hypothesis" proposes that lower-level processes are more robust to inattention than higher-level ones. Using EEG studies (N400/P600) and GPT-2 computational modelling, with noise modelling inattention, the project will empirically test and mechanistically explain these differential impacts, aiming to refine psycholinguistic models.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1287: Limits of Variability in Language: Cognitive, Computational, and Grammatical Aspects
• Applicant Institution: Universität Potsdam
• Project Heads: Professorin Dr. Milena Rabovsky; Professor Dr. Daniel Schad