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| Research article summary (published 30 Dec 2002): |
Short-term semantic retention during on-line sentence comprehension. Brain potential evidence from filler-gap constructions.
Full Abstract
In filler-gap sentences, a phrase ('filler') is separated by intervening words from a subsequent phrase ('gap') with which it is integrated. The filler-gap interval provides a useful model for the study of short-term retention processes during sentence comprehension. Kluender and Kutas [J. Cogn. Neurosci. 5 (1993) 29] used event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to show that a filler phrase places a demand on short-term retention processes in the filler-gap interval, but left the processing level at which this demand arises unspecified. Here we use ERPs to address the issue of whether the filler places a demand on the semantic component of short-term retention processes in the filler-gap interval. Participants read filler-gap sentences, which began with a filler phrase and, in the filler-gap interval, contained a subject and object that were either semantically related or unrelated. There was also a control condition in which the filler phrase was absent (i.e. less memory demand). The main result was that during the filler-gap interval, bilateral posterior electrodes displayed a larger positivity for unrelated than related words. Moreover, during the same interval, posterior electrodes displayed a larger positivity for filler-gap sentences than for control sentences. In the control condition (non-filler gap sentences), manipulation of semantic relatedness did not produce differences in ERP activity. Our results suggest that a filler phrase places a demand on the semantic component of verbal working memory during on-line sentence comprehension.Copyright 2003 Elsevier Science B.V.
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Author information
Author/s: Haarmann, Henk J (HJ); Cameron, Katherine A (KA); Ruchkin, Daniel S (DS);
Affiliation: Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, 0100 Lefrak Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. hhaarmann(-atsign-)hesp.umd.edu
Grants: NS11199 (Agency:United States NINDS)
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
Journal: Brain research. Cognitive brain research (Brain Res Cogn Brain Res), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2003-Jan; vol 15 (issue 2) : pp 178-90
Dates: Created 2002/11/13; Completed 2003/03/21; Revised 2007/11/14;
PMID: 12429369, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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