Rhythm's Gonna Get You: Regular Meter Facilitates Semantic Sentence Processing

Autor/inn/en	Rothermich, Kathrin; Schmidt-Kassow, Maren; Kotz, Sonja A.
Titel	Rhythm's Gonna Get You: Regular Meter Facilitates Semantic Sentence Processing
Quelle	In: Neuropsychologia, 50 (2012) 2, S.232-244 (13 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0028-3932
DOI	10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.10.025
Schlagwörter	Evidence; Sentences; Syllables; Semantics; Syntax; Vocabulary; Measurement Equipment; Semiotics; Perception; Speech Communication; Language; Comprehension; Prediction + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Evidenz; Sentence analysis; Satzanalyse; Silbe; Semantik; Wortschatz; Messinstrument; Semiotik; Wahrnehmung; Languages; Sprache; Verstehen; Verständnis; Vorhersage
Abstract	Rhythm is a phenomenon that fundamentally affects the perception of events unfolding in time. In language, we define "rhythm" as the temporal structure that underlies the perception and production of utterances, whereas "meter" is defined as the regular occurrence of beats (i.e. stressed syllables). In stress-timed languages such as German, this regularity functions as a powerful temporal and structural cue in speech comprehension. Recent evidence shows that it also interacts with higher level linguistic faculties such as syntax (Schmidt-Kassow & Kotz, 2009a). The current ERP experiment investigated the impact of metric structure on lexico-semantic processing, comparing the effects of semantic and metric expectancy in regular and irregular metric sentence contexts. We predicted that (1) semantically unexpected words would result in an increased N400 amplitude and (2) metric context modulates the N400 amplitude. Our results confirm these predictions: semantically unexpected words elicit an N400 that is significantly smaller in a metrically regular than a metrically irregular sentence context. The current findings support the idea that metric regularity enhances the prediction of stress locations in a sentence context, which in turn facilitates lexico-semantic integration. (Contains 7 figures and 2 tables.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Elsevier. 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800. Tel: 877-839-7126; Tel: 407-345-4020; Fax: 407-363-1354; e-mail: usjcs@elsevier.com; Web site: http://www.elsevier.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10