Parallel semantic processing in the flankers task: Evidence from the N400

Gabriela Meade,Mathieu Declerck,Phillip J Holcomb,Jonathan Grainger

doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2021.104965

Abstract

The extent to which higher-order representations can be extracted from more than one word in parallel remains an unresolved issue with theoretical import. Here, we used ERPs to investigate the timing with which semantic information is extracted from parafoveal words. Participants saw animal and non-animal targets paired with response congruent or incongruent flankers in a semantic categorization task. Animal targets elicited smaller amplitude negativities when they were paired with semantically related and response congruent animal flankers (e.g., wolf coyote wolf) compared to unrelated and response incongruent flankers (e.g., sock coyote sock) in the N400 window and a post-N400 window. We interpret the N400 effect in terms of facilitated processing from the joint activation of shared semantic features (e.g., animal, furry) across target and flanker words and the later effect in terms of post-lexical decision-making. Thus, semantic information can be extracted from flankers in parallel and impacts various stages of processing.

Highlights

IntroductionRecent evidence has rekindled a debate regarding a question of fundamental importance to our conception of reading: Can multiple words be processed in parallel or is the human brain limited to serial processing of individual words (see, e.g., Schotter & Payne, 2019; Snell & Grainger, 2019a; Snell & Grainger, 2019b; White, Boynton, & Yeat man, 2019)? Here, we focused on semantics, since parallel processing of higher order representations is the crux of this debate (see, e.g., Schotter, Angele, & Rayner, 2012, for a review)
Recent evidence has rekindled a debate regarding a question of fundamental importance to our conception of reading: Can multiple words be processed in parallel or is the human brain limited to serial processing of individual words? Here, we focused on semantics, since parallel processing of higher order representations is the crux of this debate
At issue here was the extent to which semantic information is extracted in parallel from parafoveal words in a paradigm that directs participants’ attention to the central target word, providing a strong test of parallel semantic processing

Summary

Introduction

Recent evidence has rekindled a debate regarding a question of fundamental importance to our conception of reading: Can multiple words be processed in parallel or is the human brain limited to serial processing of individual words (see, e.g., Schotter & Payne, 2019; Snell & Grainger, 2019a; Snell & Grainger, 2019b; White, Boynton, & Yeat man, 2019)? Here, we focused on semantics, since parallel processing of higher order representations is the crux of this debate (see, e.g., Schotter, Angele, & Rayner, 2012, for a review). Much of the early evidence pertaining to access of parafoveal se mantic information came from eye-tracking studies employing the gazecontingent boundary paradigm (Rayner, 1975). This paradigm relies on an invisible boundary in a sentence. Schotter (2013) found a semantic preview effect for synonyms, but not for semantically related words (see Schotter, Lee, Reiderman, & Rayner, 2015). When found, such effects indicate that semantic information can be extracted from the preview words in the parafovea

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion