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. 2007 Jul;44(4):506-21.
doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2007.00538.x. Epub 2007 May 10.

Semantic transparency and masked morphological priming: an ERP investigation

Joanna Morris  1 , Tiffany Frank, Jonathan Grainger, Phillip J Holcomb
Affiliations

Semantic transparency and masked morphological priming: an ERP investigation

Joanna Morris et al. Psychophysiology. 2007 Jul.

Abstract

The role of semantics in the segmentation of morphologically complex words was examined using event-related potentials (ERPs) recorded to target words primed by semantically transparent (hunter-hunt,) opaque (corner-corn), and orthographically related (scandal-scan) masked primes. Behavioral data showed that only transparent items gave rise to priming. The ERP data showed both N250 and the N400 effects with transparent items generating greater priming than orthographic or opaque. Furthermore, priming effects across conditions revealed the existence of a significant linear trend, with transparent items showing the greatest effects and orthographic items the smallest, suggesting that these priming effects vary as a function of morphological structure and semantic transparency. The results are discussed in terms of a model of morphological processing.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The 32-electrode montage. The lines connecting the electrode sites show the locations of the midline and bilateral parasagittal columns used in the statistical analysis of the data.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Grand average ERP waveforms for related (solid lines) and unrelated (dotted lines) targets in the transparent condition at 29 scalp electrode sites. At the bottom of the figure the parietal site Pz is depicted on a larger scale illustrating the N250 and N400 effects.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Grand average ERP waveforms for related (solid lines) and unrelated (dotted lines) targets in the opaque condition at 29 scalp electrode sites. At the bottom of the figure the parietal site Pz is depicted on a larger scale illustrating the N250 and N400 effects.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Grand average ERP waveforms for related (solid lines) and unrelated (dotted lines) targets in the orthographic condition at 29 scalp electrode sites. At the bottom of the figure the parietal site Pz is depicted on a larger scale illustrating the N250 and N400 effects.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The spatial distribution of the N250 and N400 at the scalp surface for the transparent (top), opaque (middle), and orthographic (bottom) conditions. These maps were formed from difference waves calculated by subtracting the related from the unrelated conditions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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