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. 2010 Nov;22(11):2514-29.
doi: 10.1162/jocn.2009.21361.

The role of awareness in semantic and syntactic processing: an ERP attentional blink study

Laura Batterink  1 , Christina M Karns, Yoshiko Yamada, Helen Neville
Affiliations

The role of awareness in semantic and syntactic processing: an ERP attentional blink study

Laura Batterink et al. J Cogn Neurosci. 2010 Nov.

Abstract

An important question in the study of language is to what degree semantic and syntactic processes are automatic or controlled. This study employed an attentional blink (AB) paradigm to manipulate awareness in the processing of target words in order to assess automaticity in semantic and syntactic processing. In the semantic block, targets occurring both within and outside the AB period elicited an N400. However, N400 amplitude was significantly reduced during the AB period, and missed targets did not elicit an N400. In the syntactic block, ERPs to targets occurring outside the AB period revealed a late negative syntactic incongruency effect, whereas ERPs to targets occurring within the AB period showed no effect of incongruency. The semantic results support the argument that the N400 primarily indexes a controlled, postlexical process. Syntactic findings suggest that the ERP response to some syntactic violations depends on awareness and availability of attentional resources.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Example stimuli. Stimuli from the semantic block are displayed at left, and stimuli from the syntactic block are displayed on the right.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean discrimination accuracy for the second target (T2) word as a function of lag, in both the semantic and syntactic blocks. Error bars represent standard error.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Grand average ERP waveforms at midline sites to the second target (T2) in the semantic block, for all trials. Lag 10 targets are shown at left, Lag 3 targets are shown in the middle, and difference waves, formed by subtracting related T2 trials from unrelated T2 trials, are shown at right. The first two columns show related and unrelated trials, while the last column shows Lag 3 and Lag 10 trials.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mean amplitude plots for the semantic block and the syntactic block as a function of lag, averaged across midline scalp sites (Fz, Cz, and Pz). Mean amplitude for the semantic block was computed during 350-550 ms time window, and mean amplitude for the syntactic block was computed during the 500-700 ms time window. Negative is plotted upward.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Grand average ERP waveforms, showing ERPs to correctly-reported and missed trials in the semantic block for each lag condition at midline sites.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Difference waves, formed by subtracting related T2 trials from unrelated T2 trials in the semantic block, for correctly-reported and missed trials, by lag condition. Correctly-reported trials are shown in the left column and incorrectly-reported trials are shown in the right column.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Grand average ERP waveforms at midline sites to the second target (T2) in the syntactic block. Lag 10 targets are shown at left, Lag 3 targets are shown in the middle, and difference waves, formed by subtracting related T2 trials from unrelated T2 trials, are shown at right. The first two columns show congruent and incongruent trials, while the last column shows Lag 3 and Lag 10 trials. Note that the difference waveforms are plotted on a different scale than Lag 10 and Lag 3 averages.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Grand average ERP waveforms, showing ERPs to correctly-reported and missed trials in the syntactic block for each lag condition, at midline sites.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Difference waves, formed by subtracting related T2 trials from unrelated T2 trials in the syntactic block, for correctly-reported and missed trials, by lag condition. Correctly-reported trials are shown in the left column and missed trials are shown in the right column. Note that these averages are plotted on different scales.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Voltage maps of the semantic effect, at left, and the syntactic effect, at right. Scales are relative to each effect.
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