Dissociable effects of prediction and integration during language comprehension: evidence from a large-scale study using brain potentials

M Nieuwland; D Barr; null Bartolozzi; null Busch-Moreno; null Darley; null Donaldson; null Ferguson; null Heyselaar; null Huettig; null Husband; null Ito; null Kazanina; null Kogan; null Kohut; null Kulakova; null Meziere; null Politzer-Ahles; null Rousselet; null Rueschemeyer; Katrien Segaert; null Tuomainen; null Von Grebmer Zu Wolfsthurn

doi:10.1101/267815

Dissociable effects of prediction and integration during language comprehension: evidence from a large-scale study using brain potentials

M Nieuwland, D Barr, Bartolozzi, Busch-Moreno, Darley, Donaldson, Ferguson, Heyselaar, Huettig, Husband, Ito, Kazanina, Kogan, Kohut, Kulakova, Meziere, Politzer-Ahles, Rousselet, Rueschemeyer, Katrien SegaertTuomainen, Von Grebmer Zu Wolfsthurn

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Abstract

Composing sentence meaning is easier for predictable words than for unpredictable words. Are predictable words genuinely predicted, or simply more plausible and therefore easier to integrate with sentence context? We addressed this persistent and fundamental question using data from a recent, large-scale (n = 334) replication study, by investigating the effects of word predictability and sentence plausibility on the N400, the brain's electrophysiological index of semantic processing. A spatio-temporally fine-grained mixed-effect multiple regression analysis revealed overlapping effects of predictability and plausibility on the N400, albeit with distinct spatio-temporal profiles. Our results challenge the view that the predictability-dependent N400 reflects the effects of either prediction or integration, and suggest that semantic facilitation of predictable words arises from a cascade of processes that activate and integrate word meaning with context into a sentence-level meaning.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Towards mechanistic models of meaning composition’.

Original language	English
Article number	20180522
Number of pages	9
Journal	Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Volume	375
Issue number	1791
Early online date	16 Dec 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1101/267815 https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0522
Publication status	Published - 3 Feb 2020

Keywords

N400
plausibility
predictability
semantic similarity

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M_Nieuwland_et_al_Dissociable_effects_of_prediction_and_integration_during_language_comprehension_Proceedings_of_the_Royal_Society_B_2019
Checked for eligibility: 09/05/2019
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Nieuwland, M., Barr, D., Bartolozzi, Busch-Moreno, Darley, Donaldson, Ferguson, Heyselaar, Huettig, Husband, Ito, Kazanina, Kogan, Kohut, Kulakova, Meziere, Politzer-Ahles, Rousselet, Rueschemeyer, ... Von Grebmer Zu Wolfsthurn (2020). Dissociable effects of prediction and integration during language comprehension: evidence from a large-scale study using brain potentials. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 375(1791), Article 20180522. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1101/267815, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0522

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title = "Dissociable effects of prediction and integration during language comprehension: evidence from a large-scale study using brain potentials",

abstract = "Composing sentence meaning is easier for predictable words than for unpredictable words. Are predictable words genuinely predicted, or simply more plausible and therefore easier to integrate with sentence context? We addressed this persistent and fundamental question using data from a recent, large-scale (n = 334) replication study, by investigating the effects of word predictability and sentence plausibility on the N400, the brain's electrophysiological index of semantic processing. A spatio-temporally fine-grained mixed-effect multiple regression analysis revealed overlapping effects of predictability and plausibility on the N400, albeit with distinct spatio-temporal profiles. Our results challenge the view that the predictability-dependent N400 reflects the effects of either prediction or integration, and suggest that semantic facilitation of predictable words arises from a cascade of processes that activate and integrate word meaning with context into a sentence-level meaning.This article is part of the theme issue {\textquoteleft}Towards mechanistic models of meaning composition{\textquoteright}.",

keywords = "N400, plausibility, predictability, semantic similarity",

author = "M Nieuwland and D Barr and Bartolozzi and Busch-Moreno and Darley and Donaldson and Ferguson and Heyselaar and Huettig and Husband and Ito and Kazanina and Kogan and Kohut and Kulakova and Meziere and Politzer-Ahles and Rousselet and Rueschemeyer and Katrien Segaert and Tuomainen and {Von Grebmer Zu Wolfsthurn}",

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doi = "10.1101/267815",

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Nieuwland, M, Barr, D, Bartolozzi, Busch-Moreno, Darley, Donaldson, Ferguson, Heyselaar, Huettig, Husband, Ito, Kazanina, Kogan, Kohut, Kulakova, Meziere, Politzer-Ahles, Rousselet, Rueschemeyer, , Segaert, K, Tuomainen & Von Grebmer Zu Wolfsthurn 2020, 'Dissociable effects of prediction and integration during language comprehension: evidence from a large-scale study using brain potentials', Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 375, no. 1791, 20180522. https://doi.org/10.1101/267815, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0522

TY - JOUR

T1 - Dissociable effects of prediction and integration during language comprehension

T2 - evidence from a large-scale study using brain potentials

AU - Nieuwland, M

AU - Barr, D

AU - Bartolozzi, null

AU - Busch-Moreno, null

AU - Darley, null

AU - Donaldson, null

AU - Ferguson, null

AU - Heyselaar, null

AU - Huettig, null

AU - Husband, null

AU - Ito, null

AU - Kazanina, null

AU - Kogan, null

AU - Kohut, null

AU - Kulakova, null

AU - Meziere, null

AU - Politzer-Ahles, null

AU - Rousselet, null

AU - Rueschemeyer, null

AU - Segaert, Katrien

AU - Tuomainen, null

AU - Von Grebmer Zu Wolfsthurn, null

PY - 2020/2/3

Y1 - 2020/2/3

N2 - Composing sentence meaning is easier for predictable words than for unpredictable words. Are predictable words genuinely predicted, or simply more plausible and therefore easier to integrate with sentence context? We addressed this persistent and fundamental question using data from a recent, large-scale (n = 334) replication study, by investigating the effects of word predictability and sentence plausibility on the N400, the brain's electrophysiological index of semantic processing. A spatio-temporally fine-grained mixed-effect multiple regression analysis revealed overlapping effects of predictability and plausibility on the N400, albeit with distinct spatio-temporal profiles. Our results challenge the view that the predictability-dependent N400 reflects the effects of either prediction or integration, and suggest that semantic facilitation of predictable words arises from a cascade of processes that activate and integrate word meaning with context into a sentence-level meaning.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Towards mechanistic models of meaning composition’.

AB - Composing sentence meaning is easier for predictable words than for unpredictable words. Are predictable words genuinely predicted, or simply more plausible and therefore easier to integrate with sentence context? We addressed this persistent and fundamental question using data from a recent, large-scale (n = 334) replication study, by investigating the effects of word predictability and sentence plausibility on the N400, the brain's electrophysiological index of semantic processing. A spatio-temporally fine-grained mixed-effect multiple regression analysis revealed overlapping effects of predictability and plausibility on the N400, albeit with distinct spatio-temporal profiles. Our results challenge the view that the predictability-dependent N400 reflects the effects of either prediction or integration, and suggest that semantic facilitation of predictable words arises from a cascade of processes that activate and integrate word meaning with context into a sentence-level meaning.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Towards mechanistic models of meaning composition’.

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JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

IS - 1791

M1 - 20180522

ER -

Dissociable effects of prediction and integration during language comprehension: evidence from a large-scale study using brain potentials

Abstract

Keywords

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