University of Mannheim

About: University of Mannheim is a education organization based out in Mannheim, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Politics. The organization has 4448 authors who have published 12918 publications receiving 446557 citations. The organization is also known as: Uni Mannheim & UMA.

The syntax–discourse interface in near-native L2 acquisition: Off-line and on-line performance

Abstract: This study investigates ultimate attainment at the syntax–discourse interface in adult second-language (L2) acquisition. In total, 91 L1 (first-language) English, L1 Dutch and L1 Russian advanced-to-near-native speakers of German and 63 native controls are tested on an acceptability judgement task and an on-line self-paced reading task. These centre on discourse-related word order optionality in German. Results indicate that convergence at the syntax–discourse interface is in principle possible in adult L2 acquisition, both in off-line knowledge and on-line processing, even for L1 English speakers, whose L1 does not correspond to L2 German in discourse-to-syntax mappings. At the same time, non-convergence of the L1 Dutch groups and differences in the L2 groups' performance between tasks suggest that asymmetries in L1–L2 discourse configurations and computational difficulties in mapping discourse onto syntax constrain L2 performance.

Weak Bisimulation for Fully Probabilistic Processes

Abstract: Bisimulations that abstract from internal computation have proven to be useful for verification of compositionally defined transition systems. In the literature of probabilistic extensions of such transition systems, similar bisimulations are rare. In this paper, we introduce weak and branching bisimulation for fully probabilistic systems, transition systems where nondeterministic branching is replaced by probabilistic branching. In contrast to the nondeterministic case, both relations coincide. We give an algorithm to decide weak (and branching) bisimulation with a time complexity cubic in the number of states of the fully probabilistic system. This meets the worst case complexity for deciding branching bisimulation in the nondeterministic case. In addition, the relation is shown to be a congruence with respect to the operators of PLSCCS, a lazy synchronous probabilistic variant of CCS. We illustrate that due to these properties, weak bisimulation provides all the crucial ingredients for mechanised compositional veri�cation of probabilistic transition systems.

Modeling the Forest or Modeling the Trees - A Comparison of System Dynamics and Agent-Based Simulation

Abstract: System Dynamics and Agent-based Simulation are two approaches that use computer simulation for investigating non-linear social and socio-economic systems with a focus on the understanding and qualitative prediction of a system’s behavior. Although the two schools have a broad overlap in research topics they have been relatively unnoticed by each other so far. This paper contributes to the cross-study of System Dynamics and Agent-Based Simulation. It uncovers and contrasts the primary conceptual predispositions underlying the two approaches. Moreover, ideas about how the approaches could be integrated are presented.

Volunteer Work, Informal Help, and Care Among the 50 in Europe: Further Evidence for ‘Linked’ Productive Activities at Older Ages

Abstract: Taking a cross-national perspective, we investigate linkages between volunteer work, informal help, and care among Europeans aged 50 or older. Based on 27,305 personal interviews from the 2004 Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, we estimate univariate and multivariate probit models, which allow us to analyze the interrelationship between different productive activities. There is substantial variation in the participation in volunteering, helping, and caring between countries and regions. Independent of the general level of activity in a country, we find evidence for a complementary and interdependent relationship between all three activities. Our findings not only suggest an important role of societal opportunity structures in elders' productive engagement, but also support notions of the existence of a general motivation for engagement in productive activities.