Chapter published in:
Typical and Impaired Processing in Morphosyntax
Edited by Vincent Torrens
[Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 64] 2020
► pp. 75–90

Brain responses elicited by implausible fillers and filled object gaps in German

| University of Potsdam
| University of Potsdam

We report the results from two experiments on the processing of filler-gap dependencies in German using event-related potentials (ERPs). Our aim was to identify and isolate brain responses linked to semantic vs. syntactic integration processes. Using maximally parallel stimulus materials, we examined ERPs at the subcategorising verb in sentences containing either a semantically implausible direct object filler or a filled direct object gap. Whilst the processing difficulty associated with trying to integrate an implausible filler with its subcategoriser was reflected in an enhanced N400 response, encountering a filled preverbal object gap elicited a P600 response at the verb but no negativity. These results confirm that the semantic and syntactic integration of displaced constituents are dissociable and qualitatively distinct processes.

Keywords: ERPs, filler-gap dependency, plausibility, filled gaps, German
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical background
  • 3.The current study
    • Materials
      • Plausibility manipulation
      • Filled-gap manipulation
    • Participants
      • Procedure
      • EEG recording and analysis
      • Results
        • Behavioural results
        • ERP results for implausible fillers
        • ERP results for filled gaps
  • 4.Discussion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 21 October 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.64.04fel
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