BSc MSc Uta Sassenberg
- Foto
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- Name
- BSc MSc Uta Sassenberg
- u.sassenberg (at) staff.hu-berlin.de
- Visiting address
- Rudower Chaussee 16 , Room 0'216
- Phone number
- (030) 2093 9397
PhD student (funded by Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes)
Curriculum Vitae
1999-2002 | Psychology & Criminology degree, University of Lincoln, UK
(BSc(Hons)) Bachelor dissertation: Motion components and frames of reference in gesture and speech: A cognitive comparison |
2003-2004 | Psycholinguistics degree, University of Edinburgh, UK (MSc) Master thesis: A tip-of-the-tongue study in German: Partial access to initial letter, gender and count/mass distinction |
since 2005 | PhD student, Humboldt University Berlin PhD project: Production of co-speech gestures |
since 2007 | PhD student, Berlin School of Mind and Brain |
PhD Project
Production of spontaneous gesturesWhy do we gesture when we speak? Gestures have a communicative function and are produced for listeners (Kendon, 1980, 2004; McNeill, 1992, 2005) but also for the speakers themselves to facilitate thinking processes (Hostetter & Alibali, 2004; Kita, 2000; Wagner Cook, 2006; Wagner, Nusbaum & Goldin-Meadow, 2004). However, we don't know the specific functions of different kinds of gestures in different situations and their underlying mechanisms. I am investigating different types of gestures asking different questions: (1) how task demand affects gesture production, (2) vice versa: how gesture production affects the performance in a task, and (3) what role do individual differences play in cognitive skills and personality in gesture behaviour?
Particularly, I am interested in spatial utterances in speech and gesture: giving directions and employing frames of reference or perspectives in language and in gesture.
Funding
2006 PhD funding: NaFÖG (Gesetz zur Förderung des wissenschaftlichen
und
künstlerischen
Nachwuchses)
2006 - 2009 PhD funding: Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
2007 Funding for a research visit for 3 months at the Susan
Goldin-Meadow
Lab, University of
Chicago, USA (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes)
2007 Funding for a research visit for 2 weeks at the University
of
Lincoln, UK
(Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes)
2009 PhD funding: Berlin School of Mind and Brain
Teaching
2005/2006 | Introduction to Research Skills |
Since 2006 | Supervision of research projects and final theses ("Diplomarbeit") |
Research interests
- 'Cognitive' function of gestures
- Individual differences in gesture production
- Spatial reference (in language and gesture) and spatial concepts