Inferential Bridging Relations Reveal Distinct Neural Mechanisms: Evidence from Event-Related Brain Potentials

Autor/in	Burkhardt, Petra
Titel	Inferential Bridging Relations Reveal Distinct Neural Mechanisms: Evidence from Event-Related Brain Potentials
Quelle	In: Brain and Language, 98 (2006) 2, S.159-168 (10 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0093-934X
DOI	10.1016/j.bandl.2006.04.005
Schlagwörter	Inferences; Comprehension; German; Language Processing; Sentences; Semantics; Brain + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Inference; Inferenz; Verstehen; Verständnis; Deutscher; Sprachverarbeitung; Sentence analysis; Satzanalyse; Semantik; Gehirn
Abstract	This study investigates the online comprehension of Determiner Phrases (DPs) as a function of the given-new distinction in two-sentence texts in German and further focuses on DPs whose interpretation depends on inferential information (so-called "bridging relations"). Previous reaction time studies report an advantage of given over new information. In the present study, this difference is reflected in distinct neural mechanisms: event-related potentials reveal that previously introduced (i.e., "given") "DPs" elicit a reduced N400, while "new DPs" show an enhanced N400 followed by a P600. Crucially, "inferentially bridged DPs," which are hypothesized to share properties with new and given information, first pattern with given DPs (showing an attenuated N400) and then with new DPs (showing an enhanced P600). The data demonstrate that salience relations between DPs and prior context ease DP integration and that additional cost arises from the establishment of independent reference. They further reveal that processing cost associated with the interpretation of bridged DPs results from the anaphoric complexity of introducing an independent referent. (Author).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10