When syntax meets semantics.
Three experiments concerning the processing of syntactic and semantic violations were conducted. Event-related potentials (ERPs) showed that semantic violations elicited an N400 response, whereas syntactic violations elicited two early negativities (150 and 350 ms) and a P600 response. No interaction between the semantic and early syntactic ERP effects was found. Sentence complexity and violation probability (25% vs. 75%) affected only the P600 and not the early negativities. The probability effect was taken as evidence that the P600 resembles the P3b. The temporal order of word processing in a sentence as suggested by the data was such that a more automatic syntactic analysis was performed (earlier syntactic-related negativities) in parallel with a semantic analysis (N400), after which a syntactic reanalysis was performed (P600). A reanalysis interpretation of the P600 could explain why the extent of the reanalysis differed with syntactic complexity and probability of ungrammaticality.
Gunter
T C
TC
Max-Planck-Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Leipzig, Germany.
Stowe
L A
LA
Mulder
G
G
D000328:Adult; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004585:Electrooculography; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012660:Semantics