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Both sides get the point: hemispheric sensitivities to sentential constraint.
Kara D Federmeier1, Heinke Mai, Marta Kutas
1Department of Psychology, University of Ilinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61820, USA. kfederme@s.psych.uiuc.edu
Memory & Cognition
|December 31, 2005
Summary
This study reveals that both visual fields process sentence context similarly, challenging previous behavioral findings. Event-related potentials show semantic integration occurs regardless of visual field presentation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psycholinguistics
Background:
- Behavioral studies show sentence context impacts word processing differently in the right visual field (RVF) versus the left visual field (LVF).
- This has led to the hypothesis that the right hemisphere (comprehending LVF input) is less sensitive to semantic meaning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate hemispheric differences in semantic processing using event-related potentials (ERPs).
- To determine if sentence-level context influences word processing in both visual fields.
Main Methods:
- Participants processed target words in strongly and weakly constraining sentence contexts presented in either the LVF or RVF.
- Event-related potentials, specifically the N400 component, were measured to assess semantic integration.
Main Results:
- Increased sentence constraint significantly reduced N400 amplitudes for words presented in both the LVF and RVF.
- No significant differences were found in the timing or amplitude of these N400 effects between the visual fields.
- Earlier components (P2) showed visual field differences, suggesting perceptual asymmetries.
Conclusions:
- The findings contradict the notion that right hemisphere language comprehension is insensitive to semantic meaning.
- Visual field asymmetries in behavioral studies may reflect differences in earlier perceptual processing rather than semantic integration capacity.