Lexical priming and semantic integration reflected in the event-related potential of 14-month-olds.
This study investigates by means of the event-related brain potential whether mechanisms of lexical priming and semantic integration are already developed in 14-month-olds. While looking at coloured pictures of known objects children were presented with basic-level words that were either congruous or incongruous to the pictures. The event-related potential of 14-month-olds revealed an early negativity in the lateral frontal brain region for congruous words, and a later N400-like negativity for incongruous words. These results indicate that both lexical priming and semantic integration are already present as early as 14 months.
Friedrich
Manuela
M
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04303 Leipzig, Germany. friedri@cbs.mpg.de
Friederici
Angela D
AD
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D012660:Semantics; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*