Recalling oral and written discourse.

We prescribed an expository text in two versions that varied in difficulty. The text was presented either orally or under one of two reading conditions, a normal reading or a moving window condition. The subjects were business trainees whose main communication experience was in either written or spoken communication. Immediately after presentation of the text, we asked the subjects to answer questions about it. The answers given after reading in the moving-window mode were in every respect the same as those given after self-controlled reading. There were differences between the listening condition and the two reading conditions, depending on the nature of the subjects' main communication experience and the difficulty of the text. We concluded from these results that the differences between the processing of oral and written discourse are caused neither by the difference of processing control nor by structural factors but by factors related to the communication experience of the subjects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Collaborative Research Centre “Situated Artificial Communicators” at the University of Bielefeld, Germany

The Collaborative Research Centre Situated Artificial Communicators (SFB 360) is employed in modelling that which a person performs when, with a partner, he cooperatively solves a simple assembly task in a certain situation. Acoustic perception of the spoken word, visual perception of the partner and the objects and processes involved in the situation, understanding of that perceived, the formulation of own utterances, e.g. instructions to the partner, and the planning and performance of actions belong to these intelligence abilities. The theme of the Collaborative Research Centre SFB 360, in which Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence are closely entwined, is unique in this form. The scientific headquarters at the University of Bielefeld, in North Rhine Westphalia, Germany, has succeeded in entering a field of research which, in the trend of the growing importance of intelligent information systems, is a decisive factor for technical innovation.