Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 15, 2026
08:32
Examining Online Syntactic Processing of Spoken Complex Sentences in Chinese Using Dual-Modal Interference Tasks
Published on: September 5, 2019
When Chinese verb transitivity meets wrong syntactic category
Yaxu Zhang1, Qiuhong Piao2, Yanping Yang2
1School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain-Computer Interface and Mental Health Modulation, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Key Laboratory of Machine Perception (Ministry of Education), Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Brain and Language
|August 13, 2026
Summary
Verb transitivity processing in Chinese is independent of syntactic category information, even when phrase structure building fails. This finding from event-related brain potentials suggests distinct processing pathways.
Area of Science:
- Psycholinguistics
- Neuroscience of Language
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Understanding sentence processing involves integrating syntactic and semantic information.
- The role of syntactic categories in verb transitivity processing remains debated, especially in languages like Chinese.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether verb transitivity processing is independent of syntactic category information during Chinese sentence reading.
- To examine the temporal dynamics of transitivity and syntactic category violation detection.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments using event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and behavioral tasks (sentence acceptability, anomaly detection).
- Stimuli included Chinese sentences with no violations, transitivity violations, syntactic category violations, or combined violations.
- Analysis focused on N400 effects and detection latencies.
Main Results:
- Transitivity violations elicited an early N400 effect, irrespective of simultaneous syntactic category violations.
- Anomaly detection latencies were longer for transitivity violations than for syntactic category violations.
- These results indicate functional independence between transitivity and syntactic category processing.
Conclusions:
- Verb transitivity processing operates independently from local phrase structure building based on syntactic categories in Chinese.
- The findings contribute to understanding the modularity of language processing in the human brain.
Related Concept Videos
01:19Conjugation
Conjugation is a form of horizontal gene transfer that primarily occurs in bacteria and some archaea, promoting genetic diversity and adaptation. Bacteria can acquire resistance genes through conjugative plasmids, allowing them to survive antibiotic treatments that would otherwise be lethal. This process involves direct contact between cells through specialized structures such as the sex pilus and is mediated by conjugative plasmids, including the F (fertility) factor.Conjugation requires...
01:14Directional Terms
Directional terms are essential for describing the relative locations of different body structures. For instance, an anatomist might describe one band of tissue as "inferior to" another, or a physician might describe a tumor as "superficial to" a deeper body structure. These terms often use comparative terms in pairs to trace out the relative locations of one body part to another or descriptions of body tissues like the deeper ones from superficially present with reference to the body's upright...
01:27Conjugate Addition (1,4-Addition) vs Direct Addition (1,2-Addition)
α,β-Unsaturated carbonyl compounds with two electrophilic sites, the carbonyl carbon, and the β carbon, are susceptible to nucleophilic attack via two modes: conjugate or 1,4-addition and direct or 1,2-addition.
Conjugate addition results in a thermodynamically stable product. The reaction retains the stronger C=O bond at the expense of the weaker C=C π bond. The process is slow as the β carbon is less electrophilic than the carbonyl carbon.
Direct addition products are formed faster owing to...
Conjugate addition results in a thermodynamically stable product. The reaction retains the stronger C=O bond at the expense of the weaker C=C π bond. The process is slow as the β carbon is less electrophilic than the carbonyl carbon.
Direct addition products are formed faster owing to...
01:44Termination of Translation
The large ribosomal subunit has several important structures essential to translation. These include the peptidyl transferase center (PTC) - which is the site where the peptide bond is formed - and a large, internal, water-filled tube through which the nascent polypeptide moves. This latter structure is called the Peptide Exit Tunnel, and it begins at the PTC and spans the body of the large ribosomal subunit. During translation, as the nascent polypeptide chain is synthesized, it passes through...
01:44Termination of Translation
The large ribosomal subunit has several important structures essential to translation. These include the peptidyl transferase center (PTC) - which is the site where the peptide bond is formed - and a large, internal, water-filled tube through which the nascent polypeptide moves. This latter structure is called the Peptide Exit Tunnel, and it begins at the PTC and spans the body of the large ribosomal subunit. During translation, as the nascent polypeptide chain is synthesized, it passes through...
01:20Structural Classification of Joints
Joints, also known as articulations, are classified based on their structural characteristics, i.e., based on whether the articulating surfaces of the adjacent bones are directly connected by fibrous connective tissue or cartilage, or whether the articulating surfaces contact each other within a fluid-filled joint cavity. These differences serve to divide the joints of the body into three structural classifications.
A fibrous joint is where the adjacent bones are united by fibrous connective...
A fibrous joint is where the adjacent bones are united by fibrous connective...