Dissociating retrieval interference and reanalysis in the P600 during sentence comprehension
Darren Tanner1, Sarah Grey2,3, Janet G van Hell2
1Department of Linguistics, Neuroscience Program, and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.
Psychophysiology
|November 19, 2016
Summary
This study explored language comprehension, finding that cue-based memory retrieval and sentence reanalysis, measured by the P600 event-related potential (ERP), are distinct cognitive processes.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psycholinguistics
- Neuroscience
Background:
- The P600 event-related potential (ERP) is linked to sentence-level reanalysis in language comprehension.
- Skilled, cue-based memory retrieval is crucial for successful language processing.
- The relationship between memory retrieval and reanalysis processes remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if cue-based retrieval operations are integral to the reanalysis processes indexed by the P600.
- To investigate the neurocognitive independence of memory retrieval and sentence-level reanalysis.
Main Methods:
- Participants read grammatical and ungrammatical sentences with or without retrieval interference (attractor nouns).
- Sentence presentation rate (fast, medium, slow) was manipulated to affect reanalysis.
- Behavioral sensitivity and P600 amplitudes were measured.
Main Results:
- A retrieval interference effect was observed, reducing behavioral sensitivity and P600 amplitudes.
- Faster presentation rates decreased behavioral sensitivity and P600 effects.
- Crucially, no interaction was found between retrieval interference and presentation rate effects.
Conclusions:
- Retrieval interference and sentence-level reanalysis indexed by the P600 appear to be neurocognitively distinct processes.
- This suggests separate underlying mechanisms for memory retrieval and syntactic reanalysis in language comprehension.
