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Abstract:
Abstract: A semantically anomalous word within an otherwise
appropriate sentence produces a large negativity with a latency of
400 milliseconds (N400). On the other hand syntactically anomalous
words elicit a late positive waveform with a peak latency around
600 milliseconds (P600). The current study was designed to further
elucidate the relationship between syntactic and semantic
representations and their contributions to language comprehension.
Participants were affixed with a 64-channel electrode cap.
Participants sat in a chair and either read sentences on the screen
(Experiment 1) or listened to sentences through headphones
(Experiment 2). After each sentence, participants judged the
sentence 'acceptable' or 'unacceptable.' Experiment 1 confirmed
that semantic anomalies produced a large negativity with a peak
latency between 400 and 500 milliseconds (N400), while syntactic
anomalies elicited a late positivity with a peak latency around 600
milliseconds (P600). Interestingly, sentences that contained both
semantic and syntactic anomalies displayed both an N400 and P600,
but both effects were reduced, which might suggest
non-independence. Results from the auditory version of the study
(Experiment 2) are inconclusive at this time, but would be expected
to follow a similar trend.
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