Eye-tracking during reading study "Siamese"

The aim of the study is to determine whether the copula's situational argument is undespecified (Underspecification Account) or whether it is specified to a stative interpretation (State Account). In some contexts, e.g. in combination with particular adjectives, the copula can have an agentive interpretation. The study had a 2x2 design with factors verb type (sein vs. sich verhalten) and conjunction type (weil vs. um zu).
 60 items were combined with 246 fillers and distributed over 4 pseudorandomised lists via the Latin square design. The order of the sentences was counterballances. The experiment was preceeded by 9 exercise trials. There were at least two fillers between any two items. The experimental session included a break in the middle of the experiment. The first 3 sentences after the break were fillers. After a third of the sentences, a simple comprehension question appeard (Wer oder was wurde im Satz erwähnt? "Who or what was mentioned in the sentence?"). The sentences were divided into 7 IAs.
The participants were seated in a quiet lab in front of a computer screen with their heads in a headrest. They used the keyboard and a gamepad to navigate in the experiment. After the main session, a second procedure measured the participants' reading span task. The reading time data was recorded with an SR Research Eye Link 1000.

本研究旨在探究系动词（copula）的情境论元究竟符合未特指化假设（Underspecification Account），即该论元未被限定具体语义，还是符合状态假设（State Account），即该论元被明确限定为状态性解读。在部分语境中，比如与特定形容词结合使用时，系动词可呈现施事性解读。本研究采用2×2实验设计，自变量包含两个因素：动词类型（sein 与 sich verhalten）以及连接词类型（weil 与 um zu）。

60个实验项目与246个填充项相结合，通过拉丁方设计分配至4个伪随机化的实验列表中。句子呈现顺序经过平衡处理。实验正式开始前包含9个练习试次。任意两个实验项目之间至少间隔两个填充项。实验过程中设置了中途休息环节，休息后呈现的前3个句子均为填充项。在每完成三分之一的句子试次后，会弹出一道简单理解题："句中提及了谁或什么？"（原文为德语"Wer oder was wurde im Satz erwähnt?"）。所有实验句子被划分为7个兴趣区（Interest Area，IA）。

被试在安静的实验室中就座，头部固定于头靠装置，面对电脑屏幕，通过键盘与游戏手柄完成实验流程。主实验环节结束后，第二项任务用于测量被试的阅读广度任务成绩。实验的阅读时长数据通过SR Research公司的Eye Link 1000眼动仪记录。