Contextual modulation of N400 amplitude to lexically ambiguous words

Brain and Cognition
Debra Titone, Dean F Salisbury

Abstract

Though much is known about the N400 component, an event-related EEG potential that is sensitive to semantic manipulations, it is unclear whether modulations of N400 amplitude reflect automatic processing, controlled processing, or both. We examined this issue using a semantic judgment task that manipulated local and global contextual cues. Word triplets (prime-noun-target, e.g., finance-bank-money) were sequentially presented on a computer screen (500 ms duration, 1000 ms stimulus onset asynchrony), in which the second word was a homograph. The first word (prime) created a neutral-, dominant-meaning- or subordinate-meaning-biased "global context," and the third word (target) created a dominant- or subordinate-biased "local context" that was either congruent or incongruent with the "global context" established by the first prime word. Participants were instructed to read all three words but to decide only whether the second and third words were semantically related. Event-related potentials (ERPs), specifically the N400, were recorded to the third terminal word. N400 amplitudes evoked by dominant meaning-related third words incongruent with the globally biased subordinate context (e.g., river-bridge-money) were significantly mor...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jul 26, 2006·Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders·Howard RingGeoff Barrett
May 12, 2005·Biological Psychology·Patricia DeldinGregory A Miller
May 1, 2010·Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience·Frédéric LavigneNelly Darmon
Dec 3, 2014·Brain and Cognition·Boris Kotchoubey, Sylvain El-Khoury
Dec 9, 2010·Behavior Research Methods·Nancy R Gee, Shelly L Harris
Jul 24, 2012·Brain and Language·Ekaterini KlepousniotouVincent Gracco
Sep 13, 2006·Psychophysiology·Anat Prior, Shlomo Bentin
Jan 18, 2011·Neuropsychologia·Ruth Ann AtchleyLinzi Gibson
Mar 3, 2009·Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior·Yuval HarpazMichal Lavidor

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