Event Related Brain Potentials &Syntactic Ambiguity

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

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Abstract

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of the research proposed here is to investigate the nature of syntactic processing during human language comprehension. The applicant will train in the use of event-related brain potentials (ERP) to study this issue. ERPs will be measured from participants as they engage in otherwise normal reading of sentences. Sentences will contain temporary syntactic ambiguities, and the research will investigate the processing dedicated to resolving these ambiguities. Factors manipulated will include the semantic fit between nouns and their thematic roles and the syntactic bias of particular nouns. The research will investigate the role of nouns in the resolution of syntactic ambiguities. The research will use known waveforms (e.g., P600, N400) to index particular cognitive functions. It will also attempt to use the proposed experiments to extend the understanding of those waveforms. [unreadable] [unreadable]