Effects of prior context upon the integration of lexical information during sentence processing

Cairns, Helen Smith; Cowart, Wayne; Jablon, Ann D.

doi:10.1016/s0022-5371(81)90551-x

Cited by 46 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Other studies have shown poorer memory for predictable words than for unpredictable words (e.g. Cairns, Cowart, & Jablon, 1981;Corley, MacGregor, & Donaldson, 2007;Federmeier et al, 2007;O'Brien & Myers, 1985;Perry & Wingfield, 1994), possibly because more predictable input is processed less thoroughly (e.g. Rommers & Federmeier, 2018a; van Berkum, 2010).…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 98%

Anticipating predictability: an ERP investigation of expectation-managing discourse markers in dialogue comprehension

Rasenberg

Rommers

Bergen

2019

Language, Cognition and Neuroscience

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In two ERP experiments, we investigated how the Dutch discourse markers eigenlijk "actually", signalling expectation disconfirmation, and inderdaad "indeed", signalling expectation confirmation, affect incremental dialogue comprehension. We investigated their effects on the processing of subsequent (un)predictable words, and on the quality of word representations in memory. Participants read dialogues with (un)predictable endings that followed a discourse marker (eigenlijk in Experiment 1, inderdaad in Experiment 2) or a control adverb. We found no strong evidence that discourse markers modulated online predictability effects elicited by subsequently read words. However, words following eigenlijk elicited an enhanced posterior post-N400 positivity compared with words following an adverb regardless of their predictability, potentially reflecting increased processing costs associated with pragmatically driven discourse updating. No effects of inderdaad were found on online processing, but inderdaad seemed to influence memory for (un)predictable dialogue endings. These findings nuance our understanding of how pragmatic markers affect incremental language comprehension. ARTICLE HISTORY

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Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 98%

Anticipating predictability: an ERP investigation of expectation-managing discourse markers in dialogue comprehension

Rasenberg

Rommers

Bergen

2019

Language, Cognition and Neuroscience

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“…Sentence level language comprehension results from dynamic cognitive processes which combine and unify smaller linguistic units to create meaning (Cairns et al, 1981;Glucksberg et al, 1986;Hagoort, 2016;Morris, 1994;Moss & Marslen-Wilson, 1993;Rommers et al, 2013). These cognitive processes occur online, while the sentence unfolds, instantiating unified meaning which relates to the computation of semantics, spanning the whole utterance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relation between Alpha/Beta Oscillations and the Encoding of Sentence induced Contextual Information

Terporten

Schoffelen

Dai

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Within the sensory domain, alpha/beta oscillations have been frequently linked to the prediction of upcoming sensory input. Here, we investigated whether oscillations at these frequency bands serve as a neural marker in the context of linguistic input prediction as well.Specifically, we hypothesized that if alpha/beta oscillations do index language prediction, their power should modulate during sentence processing, indicating stronger engagement of underlying neuronal populations involved in the linguistic prediction process. Importantly, the modulation should monotonically relate to the degrees of predictability of incoming words based on past context. Specifically, we expected that the more predictable the last word of a sentence, the stronger the alpha/beta power modulation. To test this, we measured neural responses with magnetoencephalography of healthy individuals (of either sex) during exposure to a set of linguistically matched sentences featuring three distinct levels of sentence context constraint (high, medium and low constraint). We observed fluctuations in alpha/beta power before last word onset, and also modulations in M400 amplitude after last word onset that are known to gradually relate to semantic predictability. In line with previous findings, the M400 amplitude was monotonically related to the degree of context constraint, with a high constraining context resulting in the strongest amplitude decrease. In contrast, alpha/beta power was non-monotonically related to context constraints. The strongest power decrease was observed for intermediate constraints, followed by high and low constraints. While the monotonous M400 amplitude modulation fits within a framework of prediction, the nonmonotonous oscillatory results are not easily reconciled with this idea. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTNeural activity in the alpha (8-10Hz) and beta (16-20) frequency ranges have been related to the prediction of upcoming sensory input. It remains still debated whether these frequency bands relate to language prediction as well. In this magnetoencephalography study, we recorded alpha/beta oscillatory activity while participants listened to sentences whose ending had varying degree of predictability based on past linguistic information. Our results show that alpha/beta power modulations were non-monotonically related to the degree of linguistic predictability: the strongest modulation of alpha/beta power was observed for intermediate levels of linguistic predictability during sentence reading. Together, the results emphasize that alpha/beta oscillations cannot directly be linked to predictability in language, but potentially relate to attention or control operations during language processing.

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“…These questions are critical to accounts of sentence processing (both in adults without brain damage and in adults with aphasia) for the following reason: Several studies have suggested that, through a process called “integration, ” a word’s meaning is merged into the context of the sentence (Cairns, Cowart, & Jablon, 1981; Friederici, Steinhauer, & Frisch, 1999; Marslen-Wilson, 1987; Myers & Blumstein, 2008; Swaab, Brown, & Hagoort, 1997). And perhaps not surprisingly, there are several accounts that suggest that one limitation in aphasia is a disorder in lexical integration (Thompson & Choy, 2009).…”

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confidence: 99%

The Time-Course of Lexical Activation During Sentence Comprehension in People With Aphasia

Ferrill

Love

Walenski

et al. 2012

Am J Speech Lang Pathol

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Purpose To investigate the time-course of processing of lexical items in auditorily presented canonical (subject–verb–object) constructions in young, neurologically unimpaired control participants and participants with left-hemisphere damage and agrammatic aphasia. Method A cross modal picture priming (CMPP) paradigm was used to test 114 control participants and 8 participants with agrammatic aphasia for priming of a lexical item (direct object noun) immediately after it is initially encountered in the ongoing auditory stream and at 3 additional time points at 400-ms intervals. Results The control participants demonstrated immediate activation of the lexical item, followed by a rapid loss (decay). The participants with aphasia demonstrated delayed activation of the lexical item. Conclusion This evidence supports the hypothesis of a delay in lexical activation in people with agrammatic aphasia. The delay in lexical activation feeds syntactic processing too slowly, contributing to comprehension deficits in people with agrammatic aphasia.

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Effects of prior context upon the integration of lexical information during sentence processing

Cited by 46 publications

References 32 publications

Anticipating predictability: an ERP investigation of expectation-managing discourse markers in dialogue comprehension

Anticipating predictability: an ERP investigation of expectation-managing discourse markers in dialogue comprehension

The Relation between Alpha/Beta Oscillations and the Encoding of Sentence induced Contextual Information

The Time-Course of Lexical Activation During Sentence Comprehension in People With Aphasia

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