Mag. Theresa Matzinger, BSc MSc PhD
Theresa Matzinger
T: +43-1-4277-42425

Consultation hours: Tuesday 5:30-6:30 pm

Summer term 2024
122047 PS Proseminar Linguistics 2 (BA) - Experiments in Linguistics
122220 SE Linguistics Seminar / BA Paper - Identifying links between language and cooperation
Winter term 2023
122047 PS Proseminar Linguistics 2 (BA) - Experiments in Linguistics
Summer term 2023
122047 PS Proseminar Linguistics 2 (BA) - Experiments in Linguistics
122220 SE Linguistics Seminar / BA Paper - Identifying links between language and cooperation

Placiński, M., Żywiczyński, P., Matzinger, T., Sibierska, M., Boruta-Żywiczyńska, M., Szala, A., & Wacewicz, S. (2023). Evolution of Pantomime in Dyadic Interaction. A Motion Capture Study. Journal of Language Evolution, [lzad010]. https://doi.org/10.1093/jole/lzad010










Matzinger, T. (2014). Teiche in der Landschaft – Bedeutung, Funktionen und Gefährdung. Schriftenreihe des Bundesamts für Wasserwirtschaft.

Research interests

Language sciences
Language evolution
Language change
Phonetics, phonology and prosody
Psycholinguistics
Historical linguistics
Cognitive science & behavioural sciences
Animal cognition & communication

CV

2022- : Post-doctoral researcher, Department of English, University of Vienna.
2018- : Lecturer, Department of English, University of Vienna.
2022: ÖAW Post-doc Track fellow, Department of English, University of Vienna.
2021-2022: Post-doctoral researcher, Center of Language Evolution Studies, University of Toruń.
2017-2021: PhD, Department of English & Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna. Fellow of the Doctoral Programme "Cognition & Communication" and the Vienna Doctoral School 'Cognition, Behaviour and Neuroscience'. Supervisors: Prof. Nikolaus Ritt, Prof. W. Tecumseh Fitch.
2016-2020: University Assistant (prae-doc), Department of English, University of Vienna.
2014-2021: AHS (high school) teacher for English and Biology.
2015-2016: Studies of English Language and Linguistics, University of Vienna.
2011-2015: MSc in Behaviour, Neurobiology and Cognition, University of Vienna.
2008-2014: Mag. rer. nat. in Biology and English (Lehramt), University of Vienna.
2008-2011: BSc in Biology (Microbiology and Genetics), University of Vienna.

Publications

Schwarz M, Matzinger T & Ritt N. Testing shared language as a source of trust in an investment game (in prep)

 

Matzinger T, Specker E, Ritt N & Fitch WT. Aesthetic appeal of prosodic patterns influences their segmentation from a speech stream (under review)

 

Matzinger T, Auersperg AMI & Bugnyar T. Problem-solving and tool-use in Common Ravens (C. corax) and Carrion Crows (C. corone) (under revision)

 

Popescu T, Wiernik BM, Haiduk F, Matzinger T, Beisteiner R & Fitch WT. 2022. Melodic intonation therapy for aphasia: a meta-analysis. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences: 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14848

 

Matzinger T & Ritt N. 2022. Phonotactically probable word shapes represent attractors in the evolution of sound patterns. Cognitive Linguistics 33(2): 415-446. https://doi.org/10.1515/cog-2021-0087

 

Matzinger T & Fitch WT. 2021. Voice modulatory cues to structure across languages and species. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 376: 20200393. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0393

 

Matzinger T, Specker E, Ritt N & Fitch WT. 2021. Aesthetic perception of prosodic patterns as a factor in speech segmentation. Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society.

 

Baumann A & Matzinger T. 2021. Correlates in the evolution of phonotactic diversity in English: Linguistic structure, demographics, and network characteristics. Language Sciences 86(1): 101386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2021.101386

 

Matzinger T, Ritt N & Fitch WT. 2021. The influence of different prosodic cues on word segmentation. Frontiers in Psychology 12: 622042. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.622042

 

Baumann A, Kaźmierski K & Matzinger T. 2020. Scaling laws for phonotactic complexity in spoken language data. Language and Speech. https://doi.org/10.1177/0023830920944445

 

Matzinger T, Ritt N & Fitch WT. 2020. Non-native speaker pause patterns closely correspond to those of native speakers at different speech rates. PLoS ONE 15(4), e0230710. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230710

 

Matzinger T & Aust U. Effect of stimulus material in visual discrimination tasks in pigeons (Columba livia) (in prep)

 

Sima MJ, Matzinger T, Bugnyar T & Pika S. 2018. Reconciliation and third-party affiliation in carrion crows. Ethology 124, 33-44.

 

Matzinger, T. 2016. Teiche in der Landschaft – Bedeutung, Funktionen und Gefährdung. In: Bundesamt für Wasserwirtschaft. Festschrift zum zwanzigjährigen Bestehen.

 

Matzinger, T. 2014. Teiche in der Landschaft – Bedeutung, Funktionen und Gefährdung. Schriftenreihe des Bundesamtes für Wasserwirtschaft, Band 36.
http://www.baw.at/images/pdf/oeko/downloads/teiche_landschaft_ebook.pdf


Awards, scholarships and grants

2022: Infographics Competition University of Vienna – 1st prize (400€)
2022: Post-doc Track Grant (Austrian Academy of Sciences; 21,000€)
2020: Dissertation Completion Grant (University of Vienna; 6000€)
2019: Science Communication Grant of the Vienna Business Agency for designing and presenting an exhibit at the Vienna Science Festival 2020 (4400€)
2019: SLE (Societas Linguistica Europaea) award for the best presentation by a PhD student at the 52th Annual Meeting of the SLE (500€ and invited plenary talk at the SLE conference 2021)
2017: Conference Travel Grant of the Ethological Society (500€)
2012, 2014: ASAB Conference Travel Grants (500€ each)
2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 (2x), 2014, 2017: Academic excellence scholarship (Leistungsstipendium), University of Vienna. (approx. 1000 € each)

Teaching

PS Proseminar Linguistics 2 – Experiments in Linguistics: WS 2022/23; University of Vienna.
Workshop: Analysing our speech in Praat: 1-day workshop, summer 2022; Nicolaus Copernicus University Toruń.
Workshop: Introduction to data analysis in R: 2-day workshop, winter 2021/22; Nicolaus Copernicus University Toruń.
UE Methods in Digital Humanities – Data Visualization in R: WS 2021/22; University of Vienna.
SE Bachelor seminar – Linguistic complexity and population size: SS 2021; University of Vienna.
AR Research methods in linguistics: statistics sessions: WS 2018/19, SS 2019, WS 2020/21; coordination of the course: WS 2021/22, WS 2022/23; University of Vienna.
FS Research Seminar – Experimental Approaches to Language Change: SS 2018; University of Vienna.
PS Proseminar Linguistics 1 – Phonetics and Phonology: WS 2017/18, SS 2018, WS 2018/19, SS 2019, SS 2020, WS 2020/21, WS 2021/22, SS 2022; University of Vienna.

Sprachevolution - Eine Reise zu den Wurzeln unserer Kommunikation

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

14 Nov 2023

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Public


Beauty's Mnemonic Power - Investigating the Recognition and Recall of Attractive vs. Unattractive Linguistic Patterns

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

23 Oct 2023

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Haben Sprachen Geschwister?

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker) & Irene Amparo Böhm (Speaker)

19 Jul 2023

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Public


Beauty's Mnemonic Power - Investigating the Recall of Attractive vs. Unattractive Words

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

2 Jun 2023

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


"Could you make me a coffee?" - Pause length and differences in cognitive state attribution

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

10 May 2023

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Emotional alignment and cooperation in a TV game show

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker) & Andreas Baumann (Speaker)

2023

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Interactional correlates of cooperation in experiments and corpora

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

2023

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Linguistic preference overrides alignment as a predictor for assessing others' cooperativeness

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

2023

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Linguistics preference outcompetes alignment as a predictor for assessing others' cooperativeness

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

2023

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Pause duration and differences in mental state attribution in native and non-native speakers

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker) & Michael Pleyer (Speaker)

2023

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Pause length predicts cognitive state attribution in native and non-native speakers

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

2023

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Pause Length Predicts Cognitive State Attribution in Native and Non-Native Speakers

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

2023

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Pause Length Predicts Cognitive State Attribution in Native and Non-Native Speakers

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

2023

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Speech pause length predicts the attribution of willingness to help in native and non-native speakers

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

2023

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


The effect of aesthetic appeal on words' memorability

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker) & David Kosic (Speaker)

2023

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Digital explorations of the emergence of Middle English sound patterns

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker) & Irene Amparo Böhm (Speaker)

7 Dec 2022

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


The role of prosody in language learning, language change and language evolution

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

30 Nov 2022

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Co-evolutionary links between linguistic alignment and cooperation

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

29 Jul 2022

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Does linguistic alignment promote cooperation?

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

28 Jul 2022

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Sounding monstrosities

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

23 Jul 2022

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Public


Haben Sprachen Geschwister?

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker) & Irene Amparo Böhm (Speaker)

14 Jul 2022

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Public


Hast du Lust auf eine Reise zum Alien-Planeten?

Magdalena Schwarz (Speaker), Vanja Vukovic (Speaker), Irene Amparo Böhm (Speaker) & Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

23 Jun 2022

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Public


Co-evolutionary links between linguistic alignment and cooperation

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

26 May 2022

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


How prosody affects the segmentation of continuous human speech into words

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

28 Apr 2022

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Workshop: Exploring our voice using Praat

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

27 Apr 2022

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Wie unser Gehirn unsere Sprache beeinflusst

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

19 Apr 2022

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Public



The role of prosody in language learning, change and evolution

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

24 Sep 2021

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Phonotactically probable word shapes represent attractors in the evolution of sound patterns

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker) & Nikolaus Ritt (Contributor)

19 Sep 2021

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Combining artificial language learning with behavioural economics to study shared language as a predictor of trust

Magdalena Schwarz (Speaker) & Theresa Matzinger (Contributor)

16 Sep 2021

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Aesthetic perception of prosodic patterns as a factor in speech segmentation

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker), Eva Specker (Contributor), Nikolaus Ritt (Contributor) & William Tecumseh Sherman Fitch (Contributor)

7 Sep 2021

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Linguistic markers of group affiliation increase trust as much as other biological and cultural tags

Magdalena Schwarz (Speaker), Theresa Matzinger (Contributor) & Nikolaus Ritt (Contributor)

7 Sep 2021

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Phonotactically probable word shapes represent attractors in the evolution of sound patterns

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker) & Nikolaus Ritt (Contributor)

3 Sep 2021

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Quantifying changes in gender bias in the Google Books Corpus

Nikolaus Ritt (Speaker), Magdalena Schwarz (Speaker), Theresa Matzinger (Speaker), Andreas Baumann (Speaker) & Vanja Vukovic (Speaker)

1 Sep 2021

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Assessing the effect of shared language and other social group markers on trust

Magdalena Schwarz (Speaker), Theresa Matzinger (Contributor) & Nikolaus Ritt (Contributor)

30 Aug 2021

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Haben Sprachen Geschwister?

Vanja Vukovic (Speaker), Magdalena Schwarz (Speaker) & Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

14 Jul 2021

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Public


Workshop: "Visualization of linguistic data with ggplot2"

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker), Magdalena Schwarz (Speaker) & Vanja Vukovic (Speaker)

27 Nov 2020

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Workshop: "Visualization of linguistic data with ggplot2"

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker), Magdalena Schwarz (Speaker) & Vanja Vukovic (Speaker)

25 Sep 2020

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Testing shared language as a source of trust in an investment game

Magdalena Schwarz (Speaker), Theresa Matzinger (Speaker) & Nikolaus Ritt (Contributor)

13 Sep 2019

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Middle English Open Syllable Lengthening produced canonical word form shapes

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker) & Nikolaus Ritt (Contributor)

2019

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Phonotactics is affected by statistical scaling laws less than the lexicon

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker), Andreas Baumann (Speaker) & Kamil Kazmierski (Speaker)

2019

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Phonotactics is less affected by statistical scaling laws than the lexicon

Andreas Baumann (Contributor), Theresa Matzinger (Speaker) & Kamil Kazmierski (Contributor)

2019

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


The effects of prosodic cues on word segmentation in an artificial language learning task

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker), Magdalena Schwarz (Contributor), Nikolaus Ritt (Contributor) & William Tecumseh Sherman Fitch (Contributor)

2019

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Characteristics of pauses in L2 speech in different speech tempi

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker), Nikolaus Ritt (Contributor) & William Tecumseh Sherman Fitch (Contributor)

13 Sep 2018

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


The effects of final lengthening and pauses on word segmentation in artificial language learning

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker), Nikolaus Ritt (Contributor) & William Tecumseh Sherman Fitch (Contributor)

1 Sep 2018

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Können Tiere Werkzeuge benutzen?

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

Sep 2018

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Public


Ecological and linguistic correlates of the dynamics of phonotactic diversity: a diachronic case study

Andreas Baumann (Speaker) & Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

4 Jul 2018

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Linguistic and non-linguistic correlates in the evolution of phonotactic diversity

Andreas Baumann (Speaker), Theresa Matzinger (Speaker) & Nikolaus Ritt (Speaker)

18 Apr 2018

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Von Aliensprache zur Muttersprache: wie Kinder unsere Sprache lernen

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

13 Apr 2018

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Public


Middle English Open Syllable Lengthening and statistical (mor-)phonotactics

Nikolaus Ritt (Speaker) & Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

1 Dec 2017

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


/l/- darkening in Austrian learner English

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker) & Nikolaus Ritt (Speaker)

12 Sep 2017

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Visual discrimination of natural and artificial stimuli in pigeons (Columba livia)

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker) & Ulrike Aust (Contributor)

22 Feb 2017

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Technical Problem Solving and Tool Use in Ravens (Corvus corax) and Carrion Crows (Corvus corone)

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker), Alice Auersperg (Contributor), Auguste von Bayern (Contributor) & Thomas Bugnyar (Contributor)

26 Aug 2015

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Teiche in der Landschaft – Bedeutung, Funktionen und Gefährdung

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

27 Aug 2014

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Teiche in der Landschaft – Bedeutung, Funktionen und Gefährdung

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

4 Apr 2014

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Public


Technical problem-solving, tool-use and insight in common ravens and carrion crows

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker), Alice Auersperg (Speaker), Auguste von Bayern (Speaker) & Thomas Bugnyar (Contributor)

2014 → …

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Science


Teiche in der Landschaft – Bedeutung, Funktionen und Gefährdung

Theresa Matzinger (Speaker)

13 Mar 2013

Activity: Talks and presentationsTalk or oral contributionScience to Public


Department of English and American Studies

Spitalgasse 2, Hof 8 (Campus)
1090 Wien

T: +43-1-4277-42425

theresa.matzinger@univie.ac.at