In what context does context matter? An ERP study of sentence processing in Brazilian Portuguese
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-7726.2015.1.18408Keywords:
N400, ERPs, Context, Syntax-semantic interface, Adjunct-complement dichotomyAbstract
The N400 component is the most famous ERP component in linguistic studies. It has a negative amplitude peak at approximately 400ms after stimulus onset. It has been reported in the last 30 years in connection with the attempt of the verb to integrate its complement. It is also related to lexical access in general and to participants’ response when incoming words do not match predictable candidates in online processing. This study focuses on the sensitivity of the N400 to early information from outside of the verb-complement scope, (contained in an adjunct in the left periphery of the sentence). Using supporting adjunct information as a condition, this study tries to unveil the sensitivity of the N400 to data that is not part of the core structure of the event. Our hypothesis is that the information in the adjunct position is not taken into account in the same time-frame of the event and, indeed, the analyses involving several pre-tests with varying SOAs, showed no difference in the N400 component for sentences with relevant adjunct information when compared to those with irrelevant adjunct information.
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Em que contexto o contexto importa? Um estudo de ERP com sentenças
em português brasileiro
Resumo: O componente N400 é o ERP mais famoso em estudos eletrofisiológicos da lilnguagem. O N400 tem amplitude negativa aproximadamente aos 400ms após estímulação. Nos últimos 30 anos, o N400 tem sido relacionado ao esforço de o verbo de integrar o seu complemento. Ele também está relacionado com o acesso lexical e à frustação da previsibilidade do falante ao antecipar a próxima palavra durante o processamento online. Procuramos explorar a sensibilidade do N400 à informação precoce fora da arena verbo-complemento (um adjunto na periferia esquerda da sentença). Utilizando informação acessória, como condição, este estudo tentará desvendar a sensibilidade do N400 para dados que não são parte do evento. A hipótese é que as informações na posição de adjunto não seriam levadas em conta no mesmo espaço de tempo da informação do evento. De fato, as análises, que envolveram vários pré-testes com diferentes SOAs, não mostraram diferença nos parâmetros do N400 para frases com informações relevantes no adjunto comparados àqueles com informação irre-
levante.
Palavras-chave: N400; ERPs; Contexto; Interface sintaxe-semantica; Dicotomia adjunto-complemento
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