Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Advancing Dyslexia Assessment in Children Through Computerized Testing
Published on: August 16, 2024
Processing inflectional and derivational morphology: electrophysiological evidence from Spanish
Carlos J Alvarez1, Mabel Urrutia, Alberto Domínguez
1Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. calvarez@ull.es
Abstract:
The goal of this paper is to study possible differences between the processing of inflectional vs. derivational morphology in Spanish word recognition using electrophysiological measures. A lexical decision task to target words preceded by morphological-related (or unrelated) primes was used. The orthographic and phonological overlap and the grammatical class for the two experimental conditions were exactly the same. Examples of the related conditions were, for inflection, NIÑO-NIÑA ("girl"-"boy"), and for derivation, RAMO-RAMA ("bunch"-"branch"). These conditions were compared with unrelated pairs without orthographic, phonological or semantic relationships. An attenuation of the N-400 component was found for both related conditions from 300 ms until 450 ms (until 500 ms for inflections only). In addition, different locations were suggested by the source analysis. These findings are consistent with accounts that argue for differences between the processing of inflections and derivations.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...
Language and Cognition
Language Development
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
Components of Language
Lateralization

