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. 2011 Apr;48(4):523-531.
doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2010.01082.x. Epub 2010 Aug 18.

Parafoveal perception during sentence reading? An ERP paradigm using rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) with flankers

Horacio A Barber #  1 , Shir Ben-Zvi #  2 , Shlomo Bentin  2   3 , Marta Kutas  4
Affiliations

Parafoveal perception during sentence reading? An ERP paradigm using rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) with flankers

Horacio A Barber et al. Psychophysiology. 2011 Apr.

Abstract

We describe a new procedure using event-related brain potentials to investigate parafoveal word processing during sentence reading. Sentences were presented word by word at fixation, flanked 2° bilaterally by letter strings. Flanker strings were pseudowords, except for the third word in each sentence, which was flanked by either two pseudowords or a pseudoword and a word, one on each side. Flanker words were either semantically congruent or incongruent with the sentence context. P2 (175-375 ms) amplitudes were less positive for contextually incongruent than congruent flanker words but only with flanker words in the right visual field for English and in the left visual field in Hebrew. Flankered word presentation thus may be a suitable method for the electrophysiological study of parafoveal perception during sentence reading.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sentence presentation procedure.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic flat representation of the 64 electrode positions from which EEG activity was recorded. The grouped electrodes are those analyzed in the twelve critical regions.
Figure 3
Figure 3
ERPs showing congruent and incongruent flanker words presented to the Left Visual Field in the English sentences.
Figure 4
Figure 4
ERPs showing congruent and incongruent flanker words presented to the Left Visual Field in the Hebrew sentences.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Mean amplitudes of the P2 component (175-375 ms) in the right posterior medial region for both groups and both visual fields.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Topographical maps of the P2 differences over the scalp (Incongruent minus Congruent conditions).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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