Additive effects of repetition and predictability during comprehension: evidence from event-related potentials

PLoS One. 2014 Jun 6;9(6):e99199. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099199. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Previous research has shown that neural responses to words during sentence comprehension are sensitive to both lexical repetition and a word's predictability in context. While previous research has often contrasted the effects of these variables (e.g. by looking at cases in which word repetition violates sentence-level constraints), little is known about how they work in tandem. In the current study we examine how recent exposure to a word and its predictability in context combine to impact lexical semantic processing. We devise a novel paradigm that combines reading comprehension with a recognition memory task, allowing for an orthogonal manipulation of a word's predictability and its repetition status. Using event-related brain potentials (ERPs), we show that word repetition and predictability have qualitatively similar and additive effects on the N400 amplitude. We propose that prior exposure to a word and predictability impact lexical semantic processing in an additive and independent fashion.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Brain / physiology*
  • Comprehension / physiology*
  • Evoked Potentials / physiology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Repetition Priming / physiology*

Grants and funding

This work was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF IGERT DGE-0801465) to the University of Maryland. The views expressed here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the funding agencies. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.