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Set focus and anaphoric reference: An ERP study
Fredrik Heinat1, Eva Klingvall2
1Linnæus University, Sweden.
Brain and Language
|April 27, 2020
Summary
Negative quantifiers create referential ambiguity, unlike positive ones. This study used ERPs to show distinct brain responses to these different quantifier types during language processing.
Area of Science:
- Psycholinguistics
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Computational Linguistics
Background:
- Anaphoric reference involves linking pronouns to previously mentioned entities.
- Quantifying expressions (e.g., 'many', 'few') pose unique challenges for anaphoric resolution.
- Swedish quantifiers exhibit distinct properties regarding referential set selection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying the processing of anaphoric reference to quantifying expressions in Swedish.
- To compare the processing of negative versus positive quantifiers.
- To examine brain responses associated with referential ambiguity.
Main Methods:
- Event-Related Potentials (ERP) study design.
- Analysis of brain activity during the processing of sentences with negative and positive quantifiers.
- Focus on ERP components like frontal negativity and P600.
Main Results:
- Negative quantifiers elicited an enhanced frontal negativity at the anaphoric pronoun compared to positive quantifiers.
- A P600 effect was observed at the disambiguating word, indicating processing anomalies for certain readings.
- Frontal negativity correlated with referential ambiguity in negative quantifier contexts.
Conclusions:
- Negative quantifiers introduce referential ambiguity, impacting anaphoric reference processing.
- ERP findings reveal distinct neural signatures for processing different quantifier types.
- The study provides insights into the cognitive load associated with resolving ambiguous linguistic structures.
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