Event Abstract Back to Event Automaticity of tuning to distributional properties in language Iris N. Knierim1* and Sonja A. Kotz1 1 MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Germany Different lines of research suggest an influence of distributional properties of language elements on their processing. For example, pseudowords with high-frequency syllables are produced faster than their low-frequency counterparts. During language acquisition, distributional properties manifest themselves as familiarity differences, i.e., distinct processing of familiar compared to unfamiliar words or stress patterns. In adult language processing, frequencies of words, syllables, or sound combinations modulate both production and perception. An open question concerns the automaticity of this influence: Is it rather context-dependent, i.e., occurs under circumstances of focused processing such as lexical retrieval, or is it better described as a context-free, automatic effect accompanying the processing of the language element in question. The current study compares EEG responses to two types of syllables that differ in frequency. Syllables were presented under passive listening conditions as first syllables of disyllabic pseudowords allowing for a lexicality-free context of speech processing. We report highly significant differences between the two syllable types consisting in a negative going deflection for the more frequent compared to the less frequent syllables starting about 190ms and peaking around 300ms post-stimulus onset with a fronto-central scalp distribution. Our findings support the notion that distributional properties of language elements, in this case syllable frequencies, shape the processing of those elements in an automatic manner. More precisely, we argue that after the distributional information is acquired it becomes part of the stimulus’ properties and is not bound to contextual requirements, e.g., lexical retrieval to complete a task. Keywords: EEG, Language Conference: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Sessions: Neural Bases of Language Citation: Knierim IN and Kotz SA (2011). Automaticity of tuning to distributional properties in language. Conference Abstract: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00511 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 22 Nov 2011; Published Online: 28 Nov 2011. * Correspondence: Dr. Iris N Knierim, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, knierim@cbs.mpg.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Iris N Knierim Sonja A Kotz Google Iris N Knierim Sonja A Kotz Google Scholar Iris N Knierim Sonja A Kotz PubMed Iris N Knierim Sonja A Kotz Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.