Bilingual and monolingual adults learning an additional language: ERPs reveal differences in syntactic processing

It has been suggested that bilinguals learn additional languages ‘better’ than monolinguals. However, evidence is sparse, particularly for grammar. We examined behavioral and neural correlates of learning an additional (artificial) language in early Mandarin–English bilinguals, compared to English monolinguals. Following grammar instruction, participants practiced comprehension and production, and judged grammaticality at low and high proficiency while event-related potentials (ERPs) were acquired. Bilinguals and monolinguals did not differ on behavioral measures, but showed distinct ERP patterns. At low proficiency only bilinguals showed a P600, a common ERP correlate of syntactic processing in native speakers of languages. At high proficiency both groups showed P600s, though the monolinguals also evidenced an anterior positivity not typically found in native speakers of languages during syntactic processing. These findings suggest that, even without bilingual/monolingual behavioral differences, bilinguals show ERP patterns for an additional language that are more similar to those of native speakers of languages.

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Neural Correlates of Subjective Awareness and Unconscious Processing: An ERP Study

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2009.21064 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 21 (7) ◽

pp. 1435-1446 ◽

Cited By ~ 83

Author(s):

Dominique Lamy ◽

Moti Salti ◽

Yair Bar-Haim

Keyword(s):

Event Related Potentials ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Choice Response ◽

Backward Masking ◽

Unconscious Perception ◽

Behavioral Measures ◽

Subjective Awareness ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Physically Identical ◽

P3 Component

The aim of the present study was to dissociate the ERP (Event Related Potentials) correlates of subjective awareness from those of unconscious perception. In a backward masking paradigm, participants first produced a forced-choice response to the location of a liminal target presented for an individually calibrated duration, and then reported on their subjective awareness of the target's presence. We recorded (Event-Related Potentials) ERPs and compared the ERP waves when observers reported being aware vs. unaware of the target but localized it correctly, thereby isolating the neural correlates of subjective awareness while controlling for differences in objective performance. In addition, we compared the ERPs when participants were subjectively unaware of the target's presence and localized it correctly versus incorrectly, thereby isolating the neural correlates of unconscious perception. All conditions involved stimuli that were physically identical and were presented for the same duration. Both behavioral measures were associated with modulation of the amplitude of the P3 component of the ERP. Importantly, this modulation was widely spread across all scalp locations for subjective awareness, but was restricted to the parietal electrodes for unconscious perception. These results indicate that liminal stimuli that do not affect performance undergo considerable processing and that subjective awareness is associated with a late wave of activation with widely distributed topography.

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Language distance and non-native syntactic processing: Evidence from event-related potentials

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728910000350 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 400-411 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

ADAM ZAWISZEWSKI ◽

EVA GUTIÉRREZ ◽

BEATRIZ FERNÁNDEZ ◽

ITZIAR LAKA

Keyword(s):

Language Processing ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Native Language ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Syntactic Processing ◽

Verb Agreement ◽

The Third ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Processing Differences ◽

Head Parameter

In this study, we explore native and non-native syntactic processing, paying special attention to the language distance factor. To this end, we compared how native speakers of Basque and highly proficient non-native speakers of Basque who are native speakers of Spanish process certain core aspects of Basque syntax. Our results suggest that differences in native versus non-native language processing strongly correlate with language distance: native/non-native processing differences obtain if a syntactic parameter of the non-native grammar diverges from the native grammar. Otherwise, non-native processing will approximate native processing as levels of proficiency increase. We focus on three syntactic parameters: (i) the head parameter, (ii) argument alignment (ergative/accusative), and (iii) verb agreement. The first two diverge in Basque and Spanish, but the third is the same in both languages. Our results reveal that native and non-native processing differs for the diverging syntactic parameters, but not for the convergent one. These findings indicate that language distance has a significant impact in non-native language processing.

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Neural correlates of error-monitoring and mindset: Back to the drawing board?

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0254322 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (7) ◽

pp. e0254322

Author(s):

Tieme W. P. Janssen ◽

Smiddy Nieuwenhuis ◽

Jamie Hoefakker ◽

Patricia D. Dreier Gligoor ◽

Milene Bonte ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Event Related Potentials ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Error Monitoring ◽

Contextual Influences ◽

Behavioral Measures ◽

Stimulus Processing ◽

Related Potentials ◽

The Relationship ◽

Previous Error ◽

Mindset Theory

The different ways students deal with mistakes is an integral part of mindset theory. While previous error-monitoring studies found supporting neural evidence for mindset-related differences, they may have been confounded by overlapping stimulus processing. We therefore investigated the relationship between mindset and event-related potentials (ERPs) of error-monitoring (response-locked Ne, Pe), with and without overlap correction. In addition, besides behavioral measures of remedial action after errors (post-error slowing and accuracy), we investigated their neural correlates (stimulus-locked N2). Results indicated comparable Ne, but larger Pe amplitudes in fixed-minded students; however, after overlap correction, the Pe results were rendered non-significant. A likely explanation for this overlap was a near-significant effect of mindset on the preceding stimulus P3. Finally, although N2 was larger for trials following errors, mindset was unrelated. The current study shows that the relationship between error-monitoring and mindset is more complex and should be reconsidered. Future studies are advised to explore stimulus processing as well, and if needed, to correct for stimulus overlap. In addition, contextual influences on and individual variation in error-monitoring need more scrutiny, which may contribute to refining mindset theory.

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Neural correlates of error-monitoring and mindset: back to the drawing board?

10.31234/osf.io/pwjht ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tieme Willem Pieter Janssen ◽

Smiddy Nieuwenhuis ◽

Jamie Hoefakker ◽

Patricia D. Dreier Gligoor ◽

Milene Bonte ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Event Related Potentials ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Error Monitoring ◽

Behavioral Measures ◽

Stimulus Processing ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Drawing Board ◽

The Relationship ◽

Monitoring Response ◽

Previous Error

The different ways students deal with mistakes is an integral part of mindset theory. While previous error-monitoring studies found supporting neural evidence for mindset-related differences, they may have been confounded by overlapping stimulus processing. We therefore investigated the relationship between mindset and event-related potentials (ERPs) of error-monitoring (response-locked Ne, Pe), with and without overlap correction. In addition, besides behavioral measures of remedial action after errors (increased post-error slowing and accuracy), we investigated their neural correlates (enhanced stimulus-locked N2). Results indicated comparable Ne, but larger Pe amplitudes in fixed-minded students; however, after overlap correction, the Pe results were rendered non-significant. A likely explanation for this overlap was a near-significant effect of mindset on the preceding stimulus P3. Finally, although N2 was larger for trials following errors, mindset was unrelated. The current study shows that the relationship between error-monitoring and mindset is more complex and should be reconsidered. Future studies are advised to explore stimulus processing as well, and if needed, to correct for stimulus overlap.

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Proficiency Differences in Syntactic Processing of Monolingual Native Speakers Indexed by Event-related Potentials

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2009.21393 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 22 (12) ◽

pp. 2728-2744 ◽

Cited By ~ 95

Author(s):

Eric Pakulak ◽

Helen J. Neville

Keyword(s):

Language Proficiency ◽

Language Processing ◽

English Language ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Memory Span ◽

Wide Spectrum ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Native Speakers Of English ◽

Proficiency Scores

Although anecdotally there appear to be differences in the way native speakers use and comprehend their native language, most empirical investigations of language processing study university students and none have studied differences in language proficiency, which may be independent of resource limitations such as working memory span. We examined differences in language proficiency in adult monolingual native speakers of English using an ERP paradigm. ERPs were recorded to insertion phrase structure violations in naturally spoken English sentences. Participants recruited from a wide spectrum of society were given standardized measures of English language proficiency, and two complementary ERP analyses were performed. In between-groups analyses, participants were divided on the basis of standardized proficiency scores into lower proficiency and higher proficiency groups. Compared with lower proficiency participants, higher proficiency participants showed an early anterior negativity that was more focal, both spatially and temporally, and a larger and more widely distributed positivity (P600) to violations. In correlational analyses, we used a wide spectrum of proficiency scores to examine the degree to which individual proficiency scores correlated with individual neural responses to syntactic violations in regions and time windows identified in the between-groups analyses. This approach also used partial correlation analyses to control for possible confounding variables. These analyses provided evidence for the effects of proficiency that converged with the between-groups analyses. These results suggest that adult monolingual native speakers of English who vary in language proficiency differ in the recruitment of syntactic processes that are hypothesized to be at least in part automatic as well as of those thought to be more controlled. These results also suggest that to fully characterize neural organization for language in native speakers it is necessary to include participants of varying proficiency.

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Automaticity of Early Sexual Attention: An Event-Related Potential Study

Sexual Abuse ◽

10.1177/10790632211024241 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 107906322110242

Author(s):

Anastasios Ziogas ◽

Benedikt Habermeyer ◽

Wolfram Kawohl ◽

Elmar Habermeyer ◽

Andreas Mokros

Keyword(s):

Sexual Orientation ◽

Sexual Interest ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Forensic Assessment ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Behavioral Measures ◽

Sexual Preferences ◽

Motor Responses ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Promising Line

A promising line of research on forensic assessment of paraphilic sexual interest focuses on behavioral measures of visual attention using sexual stimuli as distractors. The present study combined event-related potentials (ERPs) with behavioral measures to investigate whether detection of a hidden sexual preference can be improved with ERPs. Normal variants of sexual orientation were used for a proof-of-concept investigation. Accordingly, 40 heterosexual and 40 gay men participated in the study. Within each group, half of the participants were instructed to hide their sexual orientation. The results showed that a match between sexual orientation and stimulus delays responses and influences ERP before motor responses. Late ERP components showed higher potential in differentiating hidden sexual preferences than motor responses, thereby showing how ERPs can be used in combination with reaction time measures to potentially facilitate the detection of hidden sexual preferences.

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Prediction and integration in native and second-language processing of elliptical structures

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728914000844 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 1-18 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

EDITH KAAN ◽

JOSEPH KIRKHAM ◽

FRANK WIJNEN

Keyword(s):

Language Processing ◽

Sentence Processing ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Syntactic Analysis ◽

Second Language Processing ◽

L2 Learners ◽

Frontal Negativity ◽

Related Potentials

According to recent views of L2-sentence processing, L2-speakers do not predict upcoming information to the same extent as do native speakers. To investigate L2-speakers’ predictive use and integration of syntactic information across clauses, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) from advanced L2-learners and native speakers while they read sentences in which the syntactic context did or did not allow noun-ellipsis (Lau, E., Stroud, C., Plesch, S., & Phillips, C. (2006). The role of structural prediction in rapid syntactic analysis. Brain and Language, 98, 74–88.) Both native and L2-speakers were sensitive to the context when integrating words after the potential ellipsis-site. However, native, but not L2-speakers, anticipated the ellipsis, as suggested by an ERP difference between elliptical and non-elliptical contexts preceding the potential ellipsis-site. In addition, L2-learners displayed a late frontal negativity for ungrammaticalities, suggesting differences in repair strategies or resources compared with native speakers.

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Neuroplasticity in Music Learning

The Oxford Handbook of Music and the Brain ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198804123.013.22 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 545-563

Author(s):

Vesa Putkinen ◽

Mari Tervaniemi

Keyword(s):

Speech Processing ◽

Cognitive Functions ◽

Brain Function ◽

Musical Training ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Training Transfer ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Music Learning ◽

Functional Brain ◽

Related Potentials

Studies conducted during the last three decades have identified numerous differences between musicians and non-musicians in neural correlates of sensory, motor, and higher-order cognitive functions. Research employing event-related potentials/fields has been particularly important in this framework. This chapter reviews the evidence that has emerged from these studies with emphasis on longitudinal studies comparing functional brain development in children taking music lessons and those engaged in non-musical activities. The literature provides empirical and theoretical grounds for concluding that musical training enhances sound encoding skills that are relevant for both music and speech processing. The question whether the benefits of musical training transfer to more distantly related cognitive functions remains controversial, however. Finally, it appears likely that training-induced plasticity alone does not account for the differences in brain function between musicians and non-musicians and, conversely, that predisposing factors also play a role.

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Language background affects online word order processing in a second language but not offline

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728918000573 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 22 (04) ◽

pp. 802-825 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

ANNIKA ANDERSSON ◽

SUSAN SAYEHLI ◽

MARIANNE GULLBERG

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Word Order ◽

English Learners ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Language Background ◽

Order Processing ◽

Online Processing ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Crosslinguistic Influence

This study examines possible crosslinguistic influence on basic word order processing in a second language (L2). Targeting Swedish V2 word order we investigate adult German learners (+V2 in the L1) and English learners (-V2 in the L1) of Swedish who are matched for proficiency. We report results from two offline behavioural tasks (written production, metalinguistic judgements), and online processing as measured by event-related potentials (ERPs). All groups showed sensitivity to word order violations behaviourally and neurocognitively. Behaviourally, the learners differed from the native speakers only on judgements. Crucially, they did not differ from each other. Neurocognitively, all groups showed a similar increased centro-parietal P600 ERP-effect, but German learners (+V2) displayed more nativelike anterior ERP-effects than English learners (-V2). The results suggest crosslinguistic influence in that the presence of a similar word order in the L1 can facilitate online processing in an L2 – even if no offline behavioural effects are discerned.

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