INVESTIGADORES
WAINSELBOIM Alejandro Javier
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Processing of syntactic structures with different frequencies of use: an ERP study
Autor/es:
TABULLO, ÁNGEL; SEVILLA, YAMILA; YORIO, ALBERTO; SEGURA, ENRIQUE; ZANUTTO, SILVANO; WAINSELBOIM, ALEJANDRO
Lugar:
Florencia
Reunión:
Congreso; 8th IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience; 2011
Institución organizadora:
International Brain Research Organization
Resumen:
Classic theories of grammar
processing argue for a discrete combinatorial system that applies
algebraic-like rules to parse the sentence structure. The P600, an ERP elicited
by syntax anomalies, is thought to reflect this processing cost. An alternative
account suggests that syntactic structure is processed as a probabilistic
mapping of co-occurrence between word classes. Each hypothesis makes a
different prediction: classic theories predict that infrequent grammatical
combinations of words will not evoke a P600, while probabilistic theories
predict that infrequent grammatical combinations will be processed similarly to
ungrammatical ones, consequently expecting a P600 for both events. This study
compared possible frequency and grammaticality effects in ERPs during syntax
processing.
Three verbs were employed, followed by two
structures with different frequencies of use: a) Infinitival Object Clause
(IOC, 80%), or b) Finite Object Clause (FOC, 15%). Four types of sentences
were shown: 1) grammatical frequent (GF): NP-V-IOC, 2) grammatical infrequent
(GI): NP-V- FOC 3) syntax violation of GF 4) syntax violation of GI. A widely
distributed late positivity was observed in the 600-1200 range. Within 600-800
ms, the positivity was larger for syntax violations at posterior sites (p =
0.035), and larger for GI than for GF sentences (p = 0.033). The frequency
effect between GI and GF was more frontally distributed than the grammaticality
P600. Within 800-1200 ms, only the syntax violations yielded a significant P600
(p = 0.001). Therefore, in addition to the P600 elicited by ungrammatical
events, a similar (although shorter) positivity was evoked by grammatical
infrequent sentences. This positivity could be the result of expectancy
violations based on probabilistic mapping of words.