De multiples événements sportifs majeurs vont se dérouler prochainement dans des environnements chauds voire tropicaux, justifiant l’intérêt scientifique actuel pour les questions associées à l’effet de la chaleur sur la performance en endurance. Il est admis que l’effort est subjectivement perçu comme plus difficile, en parallèle de la dégradation de la performance, à mesure que la température ambiante s’élève au cours d’une épreuve prolongée. Contrecarrer les effets délétères de la chaleur passe notamment par une exposition répétée dans des conditions écologiques ou simulées d’exercice (i.e. stratégie d’acclimatation). Toutefois, le décalage actuel entre les recommandations d’application issues d’études scientifiques et les conditions réelles de préparation et d’organisation des athlètes de haut niveau est à l’origine d’un faible engouement actuel pour de telles méthodes. Par conséquent, ce travail de thèse a eu pour ambition de répondre à certaines inconnues relatives à l’application de contenus d’entraînement classiques en ambiance chaude, en particulier (i) leur conséquence sur la capacité de performance de l’athlète et (ii) les moyens d’optimiser le contrôle et la régulation de la charge d’entraînement. Dans ce contexte, nous avons proposé à des sujets entraînés de soutenir la production de seuils de RPE (i.e. exercice à RPE fixe) dans un cadre expérimental puis d’entraînement. Au-delà de la validité de ce modèle, nous soutenons que la régulation volontaire de l’intensité dépend, au-delà de la perception de l’effort, de l’état émotionnel et de la motivation de l’individu. Lors d’une première étude, nous avons recherché à comparer les performances de solutions techniques pour le suivi de la température centrale en conditions écologiques (i.e. température gastro-intestinale vs. température frontale par capteur à annulation de flux). Les résultats obtenus ont validé l’usage du capteur à annulation de flux comme alternative pendant l’exercice, en dépit de l’absence de corrélation avec les mesures gastro-intestinales. Ceci suggère d’éventuelles perspectives en matière de contrôle de la température corporelle pendant l’exercice. La seconde étude s’est intéressée aux possibles conséquences de la répétition de sessions d’entraînement exigeantes et des contraintes logistiques d’un stage d’acclimatation (i.e. accumulation de fatigue mentale) sur la perception de l’effort et la performance. En dépit de l’absence d’effets combinés de la tâche cognitive préexercice et de la chaleur ambiante, les résultats tendent à démontrer le rôle-clé de la température cutanée et de la sensation de chaleur sous-jacente dans la régulation de la puissance soutenue à RPE-15 (chaud vs. tempéré : -0,022 vs. -0,008 W.kg-1.min-1). Enfin, la troisième étude suggère un potentiel intérêt de l’application de hautes intensités autorégulées, associée à une diminution du volume d’entraînement (-23%), lors d’une période d’acclimatation de courte durée (i.e. 5 jours). Le moindre effet observé, en comparaison d’un protocole à intensité fixe, sur la performance au cours d’un exercice de contre-la-montre (i.e. expérimental vs. fixe : 1,4 vs. 2,8 %) soulève toutefois l’importance du rapport volume-intensité dans la construction d’un protocole d’acclimatation. De manière générale, l’ensemble des résultats de cette thèse offrent des perspectives pour une individualisation et une adaptation spécifique à l’activité sportive des protocoles d’acclimatation à la chaleur. / The increasing number of major sport events that will take place in hot and/or tropical environments justify the current scientific interest in the effects of heat strain on endurance performance. During a prolonged self-paced exercise, it is well known that the subjectively perceived effort is higher as the ambient temperature increases and the performance level decreases. A repeated exposure to the heat in ecological and/or simulated exercise conditions may counteract the subsequent deleterious effects. However, the discrepancy between guidelines from scientific research and training priorities of well-trained athletes causes a lack of interest in these methods. Therefore, we aimed through the current thesis work to improve the current knowledge about heat acclimation strategies, more precisely about i) its effects on athlete’s performance capacity and ii) the optimization of training load monitoring and building. To shed light on these issues, we proposed to our trained and/or well-trained subjects to cycle at a fixed RPE first in an experimental framework, and then during a training program. We submit that the self-regulation of fixed-RPE exercise work rate depends not only of perceived exertion but also on emotional and motivational parameters. The first study aimed to compare the performance of technical devices for core temperature monitoring in ecological conditions (i.e. gastrointestinal point vs. forehead point from a zero-heat-flux sensor). Results showed that zero-heat-flux measurements might be considered as relevant during exercise. In this way, some opportunities may be considered for the monitoring of body temperature during field-based exercise. The second study investigated the subsequent effects of repeated strenuous training sessions and logistical constraints during a heat camp (i.e. higher mental fatigue) on perceived exertion and endurance performance. Despite the lack of combined effects from the prior cognitive task and the ambient condition during exercise, skin temperature and underlying heat sensation impact the linear decrease of power output at RPE-15 (hot vs. neutral: -0,022 vs. -0,008 W.kg-1.min-1). Lastly, the third study suggested an interest for self-regulated high intensities, associated with a decrease of the total exposure duration (-23%), during a short-term heat acclimation protocol (i.e. 5 days). However, the slighter effect on the improvement of performance in comparison with a classic constant-power training program, (HIT vs. constant-power: 1,4 vs. 2,8 %) provides scope for the building of training load (i.e. volume vs. intensity) in this context. In summary, the overall results of this thesis work open some perspectives for individualizing or adapting heat acclimation strategies to sport-specific conditions.

The present study investigates whether advanced adult L2 speakers comprehend the subtle linguistic cues that modal particles entail and seek to find if modal particles affect them in their responsibility attribution. Two groups of advanced L2 speakers of Swedish were tested; one group of L1 German speakers and one group of L1 English speakers. In an experiment that investigated responsibility attribution, participants read short stories that were manipulated with the modal particles nog and ju, to see if the use of these modal particles affected how they attributed  responsibility to a character in the short story. The L2 learners were tested to see if L1 background affects the L2 acquisition of modal particles. A control group of native Swedish speakers were also tested. As an exploratory and complementary measure, reading times were recorded for the critical sentences modified with ju and nog. The results show a main effect of group and a main effect of condition, but no interaction between the two. However, upon closer inspections of the numerical values in the groups, possible trends and curious directions are seen. The results yielded no significant differences between groups and conditions, and are presented as possible trends, and discussed. Contrary to the hypotheses, these trends are indicative of the English speakers being affected by the modal particles in the way that natives were expected to, while Germans showed a pattern that was different from native speakers. The results show no significant differences for the different conditions in the native control group. The results show no support for L1 transfer facilitation in the acquisition of modal particles.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:43:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1310227 bytes, checksum: 04da33952d4cd23496fa53ef618ff840 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This dissertation aims to explain how is the processing of coreference in people who stutter (PWS), reflecting on the possibility of an association between stuttering and the presence of difficulties in procedural memory, from the relationship between Alm's Dual Premotor Model (2005) and Ullman´s Declarative/Procedural Model (2001). It is proposed, then, a hypothesis about the connection between the presence of dysfunctions in procedural memory and the linguistic processing of PQG, which was investigated through the ASRT test (Alternating Serial Reaction Time) of procedural memory and two experiments of self-paced reading to the investigation of the phenomenon of inter and intrasentential coreference. In the ASRT test (experiment 1) performed to measure the degree of implicit learning of the participants, the findings suggested a tendency of the groups (PQC and FF) to behave distinctively. PQG showed a pattern of ascending curve, with a positive Spearman's coefficient for the variable cycle, expressing an increase in time of reaction as it increased the number of cycles (stimuli). Which we interpreted as a possible difficulty in the PQG in implicit learning of motor sequences. And the FF showed a descending curve, confirmed by a negative Spearman's coefficient for the variable cycle. Demonstrating that the procedural learning for this group occurred quickly, i.e., the reaction time of the FF reduced as there was an increase in the number of cycles. With these indications that PQG present difficulties in procedural memory, which could interfere in the processing of grammatical aspects according to our hypothesis, we set out to the investigation of the linguistic processing. In experiment 2, the intersentential coreference, performed with the aim at investigating the processing of lexical pronoun (PR) and the repeated name (NR) in the object position between FF and PQC, the results showed that there is no difference in this type of processing between FF and PQC, since both groups showed similar patterns in the average reading time of the critical segment. However, there were a significant effect for the variable tipo de retomada, showing that PR are processed faster than the NR, as previously found by Leitão (2005). Thus, in order to investigate how was grammar functioning in PQG and to attest the hypothesis defended in this dissertation, we set out to the analysis of the phenomenon of coreference in the intrassentential level, in order to isolate the grammatical aspect and eliminate possible interference from the pragmatic and contextual factors. The results pointed to the absence of main effect for the variable group, however, we found a marginally significant interaction effect between the variables group and type of sentence. This interaction can be explained by the fact that the groups react differently to the conditions, departing from the observation that there is an inverse behavior between them, i.e., to the extent that FF are faster in the grammatical condition and slower in agramatical condition, PQG show the opposite pattern. Which corroborates our hypothesis that PQG would have difficulties in perception of breach of grammatical principle. This possibility, confirmed by the statistical evidence foreseen for our findings with the increase of sample, that it directs our search for rejecting the null hypothesis. / Esta dissertação tem por objetivo explanar como se dá o processamento da correferência em pessoas que gaguejam (PQG), refletindo sobre a possibilidade de associação entre a gagueira e a presença de dificuldades na memória procedimental, a partir da relação entre o Modelo Pré-Motor Duplo de Alm (2005) e o Modelo Declarativo/Procedimental de Ullman (2001). Lança-se, então, uma hipótese acerca da conexão entre a presença de disfunções na memória procedimental e o processamento linguístico das PQG, investigada por meio do teste ASRT (Alternating Serial Reaction Time) de memória procedimental e dois experimentos de leitura automonitorada para a investigação do fenômeno da correferência inter e intrassentencial. No teste ASRT (experimento 1) realizado para medir o grau de aprendizagem implícita dos participantes, os resultados encontrados apontaram para uma tendência dos grupos (PQG e FF) a comportarem-se de maneira distinta. As PQG evidenciaram um padrão de curva ascendente, com coeficiente de Spearman positivo para a variável ciclo, expressando um aumento do tempo de reação à medida que se aumentava o número de ciclos (estímulos). O que interpretamos como uma possível dificuldade das PQG na aprendizagem implícita das sequências motoras. E os FF evidenciaram uma curva descendente, confirmada pelo coeficiente de Spearman negativo para a variável ciclo. Demonstrando que a aprendizagem procedimental para este grupo ocorreu de maneira mais rápida, ou seja, o tempo de reação dos FF reduzia à medida que se aumentava o número de ciclos. De posse desses indícios de que as PQG apresentam dificuldades na memória procedimental, o que poderia interferir no processamento dos aspectos gramaticais de acordo com a nossa hipótese, partimos para a investigação do processamento linguístico. No experimento 2, de correferência intersentencial, realizado com o intuito de investigar o processamento do pronome lexical (PR) e do nome repetido (NR) em posição de objeto entre FF e PQG, os resultados obtidos evidenciaram que não há diferença nesse tipo de processamento entre FF e PQG, uma vez que ambos os grupos apresentaram padrões semelhantes no tempo médio de leitura do segmento crítico. No entanto, houve efeito significativo para a variável tipo de retomada, constatando que os PR são mais rapidamente processados do que o NR, conforme já encontrado em Leitão (2005). Dessa forma, a fim de investigar como se dava o funcionamento da gramática nas PQG e atestar de modo mais categórico a hipótese defendida nesta dissertação, partimos para a análise do fenômeno da correferência em nível intrassentencial, objetivando isolar o aspecto gramatical e eliminar as possíveis interferências dos fatores pragmáticos e contextuais. Os resultados obtidos apontaram a ausência de efeito principal para a variável grupo, no entanto, constatou-se um efeito de interação marginalmente significativo entre as variáveis grupo e tipo de sentença. Essa interação pode ser explicada pelo fato de os grupos reagirem diferentemente às condições, partindo da observação que há um comportamento invertido entre eles, ou seja, na medida em que os FF s são mais rápidos na condição gramatical e mais lentos na condição agramatical, as PQG apresentam o padrão oposto. O que corrobora com a nossa hipótese de que as PQG teriam dificuldades na percepção da violação do princípio gramatical. Possibilidade essa, confirmada por meio das evidências estatísticas previstas para os nossos resultados com o aumento da amostra, que direciona a nossa pesquisa para a rejeição da hipótese nula.

Les ressentis affectifs lors d’un exercice physique ont été révélés comme prédicteurs de l’engagement dans une pratique régulière (Mohiyeddini, Pauli, & Bauer, 2009). Toutefois, alors que certains ont la possibilité d’expérimenter positivement une séance, d’autres ne le sont pas (Van Landuyt, Ekkekakis, Hall , & Petruzzello, 2000). Une des explications avancées par la théorie du double mode (Ekkekakis, 2003) est que les différences observées entre les individus sont dues à l'interaction existante entre leurs capacités physiques et leurs caractéristiques psychologiques. Dans ce contexte, mon travail de thèse visait à comprendre comment une caractéristique psychologique telle que la tolérance à l'effort peut impacter les réponses affectives d’un individu lors de la réalisation d'un exercice physique modéré. La tolérance est définie comme un trait qui influence la capacité de l'individu à continuer à s'exercer à un niveau d'intensité imposé même si l'activité devient inconfortable ou désagréable (Ekkekakis, Hall et Petruzzello, 2005). À ce jour, mon travail a révélé que le concept de tolérance semble être un concept valable dans un échantillon européen francophone (étude I) et ce quelle que soit la pratique physique hebdomadaire auto-déclarée par les individus. Mon travail montre également que la tolérance à l’effort impacte effectivement les ressentis durant un exercice physique modéré (études II et IV). De plus, il semblerait que plus les individus sont tolérants à l'effort, plus ils sont capables de produire un exercice physique intense (études III et IV). Fait intéressant, les résultats ont révélé que le niveau de tolérance semble être associé à l'efficacité du fonctionnement cognitif. Plus précisément, plus les individus possèdent des fonctions exécutives efficaces, plus ils possèdent un niveau élevé de tolérance à l'effort (étude III). Enfin, l'effet positif d'un environnement de distraction musicale sur la perception de la difficulté de l'exercice physique n'a été révélé que chez les personnes très tolérantes (étude IV); suggérant que la musique peut ne pas être adaptée à tous. En conclusion, à travers la réalisation d'une évaluation psychométrique de la version francophone (étude I), d'un paradigme dual (étude II) et d'une évaluation neuropsychologique des capacités cognitives des individus (étude III), mon travail de thèse a révélé que la tolérance à l’effort semble être un concept francophone valide prédisant la réponse affective positive ou négative à l'exercice physique ; et ce que l’exercice se réalise dans le silence ou en la musique (Études II et IV) / Affective responses to physical exercise have been reported as predictors of the degree of engagement a personis ready to set in regular practice (Mohiyeddini, Pauli, & Bauer, 2009). According to the dual mode theory, theindividuals’ differences occurring during the exercise are due to the interplay between one’s physical abilitiesand one’s psychological characteristics (Ekkekakis, 2003) with some experiencing positively the session whileothers do not (Van Landuyt, Ekkekakis, Hall, & Petruzzello, 2000). Hence, my thesis work targeted the betterunderstanding of the effect of one of the psychological characteristics, the Tolerance to effort, on one’saffective responses during moderate physical exercise. Furthermore, I tried to reveal that a neuropsychologicaldefinition of the Tolerance to effort can be possible, even required for prescribing exercise program. Toleranceis defined as a trait that influences one’s ability to continue exercising at an imposed level of intensity even ifthe activity becomes uncomfortable or unpleasant (Ekkekakis, Hall, & Petruzzello, 2005). To date, my workhas revealed that the concept of Tolerance seems to be a valid concept in a French-speaking European sample(Study I). Interestingly, the results were revealed whatever the individuals’ self-reported weekly physicalpractice. My work also shows that the way one experiences a physical exercise depends on one’s tolerancelevel (Studies II and IV). Furthermore, the more individuals were tolerant to effort, the more they were able toproduce intense physical exercise (Studies III and IV). Interestingly, results revealed that one’s tolerance levelseems to be associated with one’s efficiency of cognitive functioning. More specifically, the more individualspossess efficient executive functions, the more they possess high level of Tolerance to effort (Study III).Finally, the positive effect of a musical distracting environment on one’s perception of physical exercisedifficulty was revealed only in high tolerant individuals (Study IV); suggesting that music may not be adaptedto all. To conclude, through the conduction of a psychometric assessment of the French-speaking version(Study I), a dual task paradigm (Study II) and a neuropsychological assessment of individuals cognitiveabilities (Study III), my thesis work has revealed that one’s tolerance level seems to be a French-speaking validconcept predicting the positive or negative affective response to physical exercise either in silence or in music(Studies II and IV) and defining one’s tolerance to effort from a cognitive standpoint.

The structure of embedded relative clauses in English may involve several grammatical elements, generating different grammatical rules with respect to word order. Studying the impact of first language (L1) transfer in the production of English embedded relative clauses is important to reveal valuable information about specific challenges in second language acquisition (SLA). Online methods used by researchers to measure the degree to which the L1 impacts the processing and learning of a second language (L2) have limitations regarding measurement of L1 transfer in English embedded relative clauses. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to present a new tool that enables the assessment of how structures in Swedish affect learning English as an L2, with special respect to embedded relative clauses. A new online tool, LinguaMapping, was developed by the author of this thesis, which enables the detection of Swedish L1 transfer in Englishembedded relative clauses. LinguaMapping is also proved to be more accessible, affordable, and sustainable than the online methods eye-tracking and self-paced reading. In the future, the supervisor of this project will submit LinguaMapping for pilot testing prior to conducting main studies of embedded relative clauses as well as other L2 phenomena to shed light on the role of L1 transfer in shaping L2 proficiency.

Educational changes in Ontario, initiated by the Hall-Dennis Report, resulted in a public perception of declining educational standards in the 1970's. Ministry of Education Guidelines, which were implemented in an attempt to remedy this, created a major disruption in our grade nine and ten science programmes. The grade ten Life Science course had become fragmented and the classes polarized between bright and slow students. Traditional teaching methods were no longer functioning well and, as a result, students were poorly motivated. In this project, the Life Science curriculum is restructured to improve continuity of subject matter and student motivation. The major innovation is an individualized unit on invertebrate diversity. This modular unit is designed for self-paced mastery learning. The six modules of this unit are based on the Personalized System of Instruction (P.S.I.). Optional activities are incorporated into each module to challenge and motivate industrious students. The means of evaluation of the new curriculum unit are outlined and various criteria for the success of the project are specified. / None / Master's of Science in Teaching (MST)

This study investigates second language (L2) acquisition of word orders and markers of collectivity in Chinese and Thai. One of the differences between Chinese and Thai is that Chinese nominal phrases appear with a “numeral + classifier + noun” word order while Thai phrases appear as “noun + numeral + classifier”. Another difference is that men, the Chinese collective marker, cannot be used with nouns referring to animals or indefinite nouns, while phûak, the Thai collective marker, can do so. Based on the cross-linguistic differences, an empirical study was conducted to answer whether Thai learners of Chinese and Chinese learners of Thai would be able to acquire target language (TL) structures that are different from those in their native language (L1) and whether they could reject incorrect TL structures. One hundred and forty-four participants were recruited to complete an acceptability judgment task and a self-paced reading task. It is found that both Chinese and Thai learners could perform native-like in their acceptance of TL word orders since early stages of acquisition. However, it took them until an advanced level to be able to completely reject incorrect TL word orders that resembled structures in their L1. Thai learners also faced difficulty rejecting the use of men with animal and indefinite nouns in their L2 Chinese. In contrast, Chinese learners tended to be successful in their acquisition of phûak. The results are interpreted in terms of roles of positive evidence and form-function transparency. In general, L2 learners tend to acquire a TL structure earlier when they can receive positive evidence in TL input and when a form-function connection of the structure is transparent. Nonetheless, these factors do not have an absolute effect on acquisition outcome since some learners may be able to use a probabilistic learning strategy to successfully acquire L2 knowledge even when positive evidence is unavailable.

Storskaliga, öppna, internetbaserade kurser (MOOCar) introducerades år 2008 av George Siemens och Stephen Downes och deras popularitet har ökat ända sedan dess. Förespråkare av MOOCar påstår att de har en potential att möjliggöra livslångt lärande för människor från hela världen. Sedan de första kurserna har två olika former av MOOCar utvecklats, cMOOCar som har utvecklats utifrån lärandeteorin konnektivismen och xMOOCar som är relativt lika vanliga internetbaserade kurser med den skillnad att antalet kursdeltagare är mer eller mindre obegränsat. År 2016 anslöt sig MOOC initiativet från KungligaTekniska högskolan (KTHx) till edX, en undervisningsplattform för xMOOCar. Möjlighet till social interaktion med andra kursdeltagare och lärare erbjuds på edX i form av asynkrona diskussions forum. Forskning om hur den sociala interaktionen ter sig i diskussionsforumen och dess potential för att främja lärande är i dagsläget knapp. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka den sociala interaktionenskaraktär i två olika xMOOCar, en med självstyrd studietakt och en lärarledd. En ökad förståelse för den sociala interaktionen som för nuvarande äger rum i diskussionsforumen kan vara behjälplig för lärare vid utformningen av undervisningen i xMOOCar. Diskussionsforumen för två kurser av respektive kategori av xMOOC från KTHx om matematik och programmering ingår i denna undersökning. Både en konventionell innehållsanalys och en riktad innehållsanalys baserad på lärandeteorin undersökande gemenskap (CoI) har genomförts för att belysa olika aspekter av den sociala interaktionens karaktär och främjande av lärande i diskussions forumen. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att den sociala interaktionen är opersonlig och att kursdeltagarna initierar interaktionen för att få svar på frågor som huvudsakligen lärare besvarar genom att instruera eller informera. Det bildas ingen gemenskap och det uppvisas lägre nivåer av kognitiv närvaro i diskussionsforumen. För att främja lärande skulle diskussionsforumen istället kunna användas för att engagera de aktiva kursdeltagarna i diskussioner och lärarnas fokus kan förflyttas från att instruera och informera till att etablera en trygg miljö för interaktion. / Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) were introduced in 2008 by George Siemens and Stephen Downes and their popularity has increased ever since. Advocates of MOOCs claim that they have the potential to enable lifelong learning for people all over the world. Since the first MOOC, two kinds of MOOCs have developed, cMOOCs that developed from the theory of learning, connectivism, and xMOOCs, which are relatively similar to usual online courses, with the difference that the number of participants is more or less unlimited. In 2016, the MOOC initiative from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTHx) joined edX, a teaching platform for xMOOCs. Opportunity for social interaction with other course participants and teachers is offered on edX in the form of asynchronous discussion forums. Research on the characterof the social interaction in the discussion forums and its potential for promoting learning in xMOOCs is currently limited. The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate the nature of social interaction in two different xMOOCs, one self-paced and one instructor-paced. An increased understanding of the current social interaction that is taking place in the discussion forums can be helpful to teachers in the design of teaching in xMOOCs. In this master thesis two discussion forums from courses of the respective categories of xMOOCs have been studied. Both a conventional content analysis and a directed contentanalysis based on the learning theory Community of Inquiry (CoI) have been conducted to highlight different aspects of the nature of the social interaction and how one may promote learning in the discussion forums. The result of the analysis shows that the social interaction in the discussion forums is impersonal and that the participants initiate the interaction by asking questions that are mainly answered by the teachers, by either instructing or informing. No community is formed and the discussion forums show lower levels of cognitive presence. In order to promote learning, discussion forums may be used to engage the active participants in discussions and it might be benificial if the teachers focused on establishing a safe environment for interaction, as opposed to focusing on instruction and informing.

Bei der Verarbeitung transitiver Sätze verwendet der Parser verschiedene Informationen, wie die Wortstellung, die Belebtheit und die Kasusmarkierung der Argumente, um eine Repräsentation der im Satz beschriebenen Situation aufzubauen. Frühere psycholinguistische Arbeiten zeigen, dass zwei belebte Argumente in einem Satz zusätzliche Verarbeitungskosten verursachen, außer wenn andere Informationen die Zuweisung der grammatischen und thematischen Rollen an die Argumente erlauben. In kasusmarkierenden Sprachen wie Deutsch ist einer dieser Hinweise die morphologische Kasusmarkierung. Die meisten zweistelligen deutschen Verben weisen ihren Argumenten das kanonische Nominativ-Akkusativ-Kasusmuster zu. Eine kleine Gruppe von zweistelligen Verben weist jedoch das nichtkanonische Nominativ-Dativ-Muster zu. Diese Verben unterschieden sich in ihrer Syntax und Semantik von kanonisch transitiven Verben und verursachen beim Satzverstehen höhere Verarbeitungskosten. In dieser Dissertation wird untersucht, wie die Verarbeitung von Argumentbelebtheitskontrasten während der Satzverarbeitung vom verbalen Kasuszuweisungsmuster moduliert wird. Ich stelle die Ergebnisse vier verschiedener Experimente vor (selbstgetaktetes Lesen, Blickbewegungsmessungen und EKP-Messungen). Alle experimentellen Methoden zeigen, dass der Effekt der Argumentbelebtheitskonstraste mit dem Effekt des verbalen Kasuszuweisungsmusters interagiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen ein detaillierteres Bild der Satzverarbeitung und tragen zur Vereinigung der Transitivätsbegriffe in theoretischer Linguistik und Psycholinguistik bei. / During the comprehension of transitive sentences, the parser uses different kinds of information like word order, the arguments'' animacy status and case marking to build a representation of the situation the sentence describes. Previous research in psycholinguistics has shown that two animate arguments in a sentence cause additional processing costs, unless other cues allow the assignment of grammatical and thematic roles to the arguments. In case-marking languages like German, one of these cues is morphological case marking. While most German verbs assign the canonical nominative-accusative case pattern to their arguments, a small group of verbs assign noncanonical nominative-dative. These verbs differ from standard transitive verbs both in their syntax and their semantics, and are known to cause higher processing cost during comprehension. This dissertation examines how the processing of argument animacy contrasts during sentence comprehension is modulated by the verbal case marking pattern. I report the results of four different experiments, using self-paced reading time measurements, eyetracking and ERP measurements. All experimental methods show that the effect of argument animacy contrasts interacts with the effects of the verbal case marking pattern. The findings add further details to the existing knowledge about sentence comprehension, and combine perspectives on transitivity from theoretical linguistics and psycholinguistics.