Flexible conceptual combination: Electrophysiological correlates and consequences for associative memory.

ABSTRACT: When meaningful stimuli such as words are encountered in groups or pairs (e.g., "elephant-ferry"), they can be processed either separately or as an integrated concept ("an elephant ferry"). Prior research suggests that memory for integrated associations is supported by different mechanisms than is memory for nonintegrated associations. However, little is known about the neurocognitive mechanisms that support the integration of novel stimulus pairs. We recorded ERPs while participants memorized sequentially presented, unrelated noun pairs using a strategy that either did or did not involve attempting to construct coherent definitions. We varied the concreteness of the first noun in each pair to examine whether conceptual combination instructions would induce compositional concreteness effec

SUBMITTER: Lucas HD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5611855 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature