Auditory semantic processing in dichotic listening: Effects of competing speech, ear of presentation, and sentential bias on N400s to spoken words in context

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Carey, Daniel; Mercure, Evelyne; Pizzioli, Fabrizio and Aydelott, Jennifer. 2014. Auditory semantic processing in dichotic listening: Effects of competing speech, ear of presentation, and sentential bias on N400s to spoken words in context. Neuropsychologia, 65, pp. 102-112. ISSN 0028-3932 [Article]

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.10...

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The effects of ear of presentation and competing speech on N400s to spoken words in context were examined in a dichotic sentence priming paradigm. Auditory sentence contexts with a strong or weak semantic bias were presented in isolation to the right or left ear, or with a competing signal presented in the other ear at a SNR of −12 dB. Target words were congruent or incongruent with the sentence meaning. Competing speech attenuated N400s to both congruent and incongruent targets, suggesting that the demand imposed by a competing signal disrupts the engagement of semantic comprehension processes. Bias strength affected N400 amplitudes differentially depending upon ear of presentation: weak contexts presented to the le/RH produced a more negative N400 response to targets than strong contexts, whereas no significant effect of bias strength was observed for sentences presented to the re/LH. The results are consistent with a model of semantic processing in which the RH relies on integrative processing strategies in the interpretation of sentence-level meaning.

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Article

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.10.016