Research article summary (published 29 Jun 2003):

Working memory and lexical ambiguity resolution as revealed by ERPs: a difficult case for activation theories.

Full Abstract

This series of three event-related potential experiments explored the issue of whether the underlying mechanism of working memory (WM) supporting language processing is inhibitory or activational in nature. These different cognitive mechanisms have been proposed to explain the more efficient processing of subjects with a high WM span compared to those with a low WM span. Participants with high and low WM span were presented with sentences containing a homonym followed three words later by a nominal disambiguation cue and a final disambiguation using a verb. At the position of the disambiguation cue, inhibitory or activational WM mechanisms predict contrasting results. When activation is the underlying mechanism for efficient processing, the prediction is that high memory span persons activate both meanings of the homonym equally in WM, whereas low memory span persons only have one meaning present. When inhibition is the underlying mechanism, the predictions are the reverse. The ERP data, in particular, the variations of the meaning related N400 component, showed clear evidence for inhibition as the underlying cognitive mechanism in high-span readers. For low-span participants the cueing towards the dominant or the subordinate meaning elicited an equivalently large N400 component suggesting that both meanings are active in WM. In high-span subjects, the dominant disambiguation cue elicited a smaller N400 than the subordinate one, indicating that for these subjects particularly the dominant meaning is active. The experiments showed that inhibitory processes are probably underlying WM used during language comprehension in high-span subjects. Moreover, they demonstrate that these subjects can use their inhibition in a more flexible manner than low-span subjects. The effects that these processing differences have on the efficiency of language parsing are discussed.

Author information

Author/s: Gunter, Thomas C (TC); Wagner, Susanne (S); Friederici, Angela D (AD);

Affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Leipzig, Germany. Gunter(-atsign-)cns.mpg.de

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of cognitive neuroscience (J Cogn Neurosci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-Jul; vol 15 (issue 5) : pp 643-57

Dates: Created 2003/09/10; Completed 2003/10/14; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12965038, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 2/18/2009)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MeSH Headings (categories) shown below.

Adult Analysis of Variance Attention Cues Electroencephalography - methods Evoked Potentials - physiology Female Humans Inhibition (Psychology)

Language Language Tests Male Memory, Short-Term - physiology Mental Recall - physiology Reaction Time Reading Semantics Verbal Behavior

Note: Bold headings indicate primary MeSH headings or qualifiers.

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