Revisiting the incremental effects of context on word processing: Evidence from single-word event-related brain potentials.

ABSTRACT: The amplitude of the N400-an event-related potential (ERP) component linked to meaning processing and initial access to semantic memory-is inversely related to the incremental buildup of semantic context over the course of a sentence. We revisited the nature and scope of this incremental context effect, adopting a word-level linear mixed-effects modeling approach, with the goal of probing the continuous and incremental effects of semantic and syntactic context on multiple aspects of lexical processing during sentence comprehension (i.e., effects of word frequency and orthographic neighborhood). First, we replicated the classic word-position effect at the single-word level: Open-class words showed reductions in N400 amplitude with increasing word position in semantically congruent sentences

SUBMITTER: Payne BR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4596793 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature