Continued access to syntactic information in reading

Reliable access to syntactic information beyond its use in first-pass reading was probed using a task labeled syntactic reading task. This task draws on an orthographic marker for syntactic structure, the capitalization of nouns in German. Subjects read written text strings containing a unit that could be taken as a noun or as a verb. The strings were disambiguated by the unit being capitalized or not. Thus subjects could interpret the text only when taking the capitalization marker into account. Data were collected from 231 German-speaking secondary school students. The results show that even subjects who were capable of reliably using capitalization markers in writing varied considerably in their use of these markers to identify syntactic structure in reading. High-achieving subjects profited more than others in situations where they could tie syntactic information to a prominent capitalization marker. This suggests that focus on syntactic form alone does not guarantee reliable access to syntactic information.     

OPINION RESEARCH IN EAST GERMANY A Challenge to Professional Standards

The paper discusses some of the issues complicating opinionresearch in the GDR and considers the effectiveness of a numberof techniques as well as the degree to which they can yieldreliable results. One of the main problem areas is the previouslyinstitutionalized character of public attitude studies duringSED–rule and their role in the sociopolitical advancementof socialist society. Given the enormous shift in voting intentionbefore the first gerneral election in 58 years on 18 March 1990,a comparison of trend data taken from a number of polls conductedbetween the end of November 1989 to 17 March 1990 clearly indicatesthe unstable situation at the outset and subsequent shift inattitudes toward political alternatives. It is argued that overall,poll results were successful in presenting a snapshot of viewsas they were at the time of the interview, and that as the electiondrew nearer, the trend gave a clear indication of the likelyoutcome.