ABSTRACT
The present study addressed the question of whether count and mass nouns are differentially processed in the brain. In two different ERP (Event-Related Potentials) tasks we explored the semantic and syntactic levels of such distinction. Mass and count nouns typically differ in concreteness, hence the effect of this important variable was factorially examined in each task. Thus the stimuli presented were: count concrete, count abstract, mass concrete or mass abstract. The first experiment (concrete/abstract semantic judgment task) involved the interaction between the N400 concreteness effect and the Mass/Count condition, revealing a substantial effect between mass and count nouns at the semantic level. The second experiment (sentence syntactic violation task) showed a Mass/Count distinction on left anterior negativity (LAN) and on P600 components, confirming the difference at the syntactic level. This study suggests that the brain differentiates between count and mass nouns not only at the syntactic level but also at the semantic level. Implications for our understanding of the brain mechanisms underlying the Mass/Count distinction are discussed.
Subject(s)
Brain/physiology , Discrimination, Psychological/physiology , Evoked Potentials/physiology , Semantics , Adult , Humans , Least-Squares Analysis , Male , Verbal Behavior/physiology , Young AdultABSTRACT
This study investigated the production of compounds in Italian-speaking patients affected by different aphasia categories (i.e., Broca's, Wernicke's, and anomic aphasia) in a confrontation naming task. Questions of theoretical interest concerning the processing of compounds within the framework of the "lemma theory" as well as the role of morphological productivity in compound processing are addressed. Results indicate that all persons with aphasia retain knowledge of the morphological status of words, even when they fail to retrieve the corresponding phonological form (the "compound effect"). A difference was found among aphasia categories in the type of errors produced (omission vs. substitution) and in the position (first or second) of these errors within the compound words. In Broca's aphasia, the first component is omitted more frequently than the second one, but only in verb-noun compounds. Anomic and Wernicke's aphasia, unlike in Broca's aphasia, seem to retain sensitivity to morphological productivity.
Subject(s)
Aphasia , Names , Pattern Recognition, Visual/physiology , Semantics , Adult , Aged , Analysis of Variance , Aphasia/classification , Aphasia/physiopathology , Aphasia/psychology , Aphasia, Broca/psychology , Aphasia, Wernicke/physiopathology , Aphasia, Wernicke/psychology , Female , Humans , Italy , Male , Mental Recall , Middle Aged , Neuropsychological Tests , Photic Stimulation , Psycholinguistics , Recognition, Psychology , Young AdultABSTRACT
The present investigation reports the case of patient AS, ambidextrous, who showed a selective problem with arithmetical procedures in addition, subtraction and multiplication, contrasting with complete sparing of division. AS displayed a specific and never described "bug" error, involving the selection of digits that have to be added, subtracted or multiplied. This bug consisted in inverting the order of the numbers that have to be selected to correctly solve the operation. In particular, AS selected the numbers beginning from the leftmost position. This bug spared division, since it is the only operation that requires starting from the leftmost digit(s). The present case would suggest that some aspects of arithmetical procedures are operation independent. Moreover, an account of the nature of the syntactic rule getting lost in AS's performance has been proposed.
Subject(s)
Mental Disorders/psychology , Mental Processes/physiology , Stroke/psychology , Aged , Brain Ischemia/complications , Brain Ischemia/psychology , Functional Laterality/physiology , Humans , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Male , Mathematics , Neuropsychological Tests , Problem Solving , Psychomotor Performance/physiology , Stroke/etiologyABSTRACT
An event-related potential (ERP) technique was used to investigate the way in which noun-noun compounds are processed during a lexical decision task with Italian speakers. Reaction times and error rates were higher for compounds than for noncompounds. ERP data showed a more negative peak in the left anterior negativity (LAN) component for compounds. These results are compatible with a dual-route model that posits not only whole-word access for compounds but also an activation of decomposed representations of compound constituents. A final result relates to head position, which in Italian compounds could be on either the left- or the right-hand side of the word. While behavioural analysis did not reveal a difference between left- and right-headed compounds, a difference was found with the P300 component. The role of the compound head as a crucial information-bearing component is discussed.
