Semantically associated and unassociated word pairs were embedded in normal meaningful sentences and in sentences that were semantically anomalous throughout The influence of lexical context was isolated via comparison of responses to the second words of the associated and unassociated pairs The influence of sentence-level context was isolated by comparing responses to the same words in the two sentence types Subjects of high, medium and low working memory capacity (as evaluated by the reading span test) showed modulations of event-related brain potentials in response to lexical context In contrast, only the high- and medium-capacity groups were responsive to purely sentence-level semantic context The results demonstrate that sentential context influences the processing of words in intermediate sentence positions at normal reading speeds but that the on-line utilization of this context is more demanding of working memory than single-word contexts
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BaddeleyA.D.LogieR.Nimmo-SmithI.BreretonN. (1985). Components of fluent reading. Journal of Memory and Language, 24, 119–131.
2.
BarnardP. (1985). Interacting cognitive subsystems: A psycholinguistic approach to short-term memory. InEllisA.W., (Ed.), Progress in the psychology of language, (Vol. 2, pp.197–258), Hillsdale, NJErlbaum.
3.
CollinsA.LoftusE. (1975). A spreading activation theory of semantic processingPsychological Review, 82, 407–428.
4.
DanemanM.CarpenterP.A. (1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 450–466.
5.
DanemanM.GreenI. (1986). Individual differences in comprehending and producing words in context. Journal of Memory and Language, 25, 1–18.
6.
DuffyS.A.HendersonS.A.MornsK.K. (1989). Semantic facilitation of lexical access during sentence processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology, Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15, 791–801.
7.
FischlerI.S.BloomP.A. (1979). Automatic and attentional processes in the effects of sentence contents on word recognition. Journal of Verbal learning and Verbal Behavior, 5, 1–20.
8.
FodorJ.A. (1983). The modularity of mind. Cambridge, MAMIT Press.
9.
ForsterK.I. (1981). Priming and the effects of sentence and lexical contexts on naming time: Evidence for autonomous lexical processing, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 33A, 465–495.
10.
FossD.J. (1982). A discourse on semantic priming. Cognition Psychology, 14, 590–607.
11.
GarnseyS.M. (1993). Event related brain potentials in the study of language. An introductionLanguage and Cognition Process, 8, 337–356.
12.
GathercoleS.E.BaddeleyA.D. (1993). Working memory and language, Hillsdale, NJ, Erlbaum.
13.
GernsbacherM.A.RobertsonR.R.W. (1995). Reading skill and suppression revisitedPsychological Science, 6, 165–169.
14.
KutasM.Van PettenC. (1994). Psycholinguistics electrified: Event-related brain potential investigations. InGernsbacherM., (Ed.), Handbook of psycholinguistics, (pp.83–144), San Diego, Academic Press.
15.
MartinR.C.SheltonJ.R.YaffeeL.S. (1994). Language processing and working memory Neuropsychological evidence for separate phonological and semantic capacities. Journal of Memory and Language, 33, 83–111.
16.
MerrillE.C.SperberR.D.McCauleyC. (1981). Differences in semantic encoding as a function of reading comprehension skill, Memory and Cognition, 9, 618–624.
17.
MitchellD.C.GreenD.W. (1978). The effects of context and content on immediate processing in reading. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 30, 609–636.
18.
MiyakeA.JustM.A.CarpenterP.A. (1994). A capacity approach to syntactic comprehension disorders. Making normal adults perform like aphasic reader. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 11, 671–717.
19.
NeelyJ.H. (1991). Semantic priming effects in visual word recognition: A selective review of current findings and theories. InBesnerD.HumphreysG.W., (Eds.), Basic processes in reading, Visual word recognition, (pp.264–336), Hillsdale, NJErlbaum.
20.
PerfettiC.A.RothS. (1981). Some of the interactive processes in reading and their role in reading skill. InLesgoldA.M.PerfettiC.A., Interactive processes in reading, (pp.269–297), Hillsdale, NJErlbaum.
21.
RatcliffR.McKoonG. (1988). A retrieval theory of priming in memory. Psychological Review, 95, 385–408.
22.
ShalliceT. (1988). From neuropsychology to mental structure, Cambridge, , England, Cambridge University Press.
23.
SimpsonG. (Ed.), (1991). Word and sentence, Amsterdam, North Holland Press.
24.
SimpsonG.B.PetersonR.R.CasteelM.A.BurgessC. (1989). Lexical and sentence context effects in word recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition, 15, 88–97.
25.
GeorgeM.St.HoffmanJ.E.MannesS. (1995, March). An ERP study of inferences and individual differences. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Cognitive Neuroscience, San Francisco.
26.
StanovichK.E.CunninghamA.E.FeemanD.J. (1984). Relation between early reading acquisition and word decoding with and without context: A longitudinal study of first-grade children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 668–677.
27.
StanovichK.E.WestR.F. (1979). Mechanisms of sentence context effects in reading. Automatic activation and conscious attention. Memory and Cognition, 7, 77–85.
28.
TillR.E.MrossE.F.KintschW. (1988). Time course of priming for associate and inference words in a discourse context. Memory and Cognition, 16, 283–298.
29.
Van PettenC. (1993). A comparison of lexical and sentence-level context effects in event related potentials. Language and Cognitive Processes, 8, 485–532.
30.
WhitneyP.RitchieB.G.ClarkM.B. (1991). Working memory capacity and the use of elaborative inferences in text comprehension. Discourse Processes, 14, 133–145.
31.
WilsonF.A.W.OScalaidheS.P.Goldman-RakicP.S. (1993). Dissociation of object and spatial processing domains in primate prefrontal cortex. Science, 260, 1955–1958.
