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Chapter 7. Neural evidence for the processing of referential ambiguity and referential failure in Spanish

  • Nick Feroce , Robert Fiorentino , Lauren Covey and Alison Gabriele
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Current Theoretical and Applied Perspectives on Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics
This chapter is in the book Current Theoretical and Applied Perspectives on Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics

Abstract

The present study uses event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine how native Spanish speakers comprehend overt pronouns in two referentially challenging contexts: sentences in which a pronoun has two gender-matching antecedents (referential ambiguity), and sentences in which there are no gender-matching antecedents (referential failure). Participants read these sentences for comprehension while their brain activity was recorded. Results revealed a sustained positivity for referentially ambiguous pronouns, in contrast to a sustained negativity observed in previous studies of English and Dutch, and a positivity (P600) for referential failure, in line with previous studies. There was no relationship between ERPs and working memory measures. These results suggest that speakers of different languages may differ in how they process referential ambiguity, but not referential failure.

Abstract

The present study uses event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine how native Spanish speakers comprehend overt pronouns in two referentially challenging contexts: sentences in which a pronoun has two gender-matching antecedents (referential ambiguity), and sentences in which there are no gender-matching antecedents (referential failure). Participants read these sentences for comprehension while their brain activity was recorded. Results revealed a sustained positivity for referentially ambiguous pronouns, in contrast to a sustained negativity observed in previous studies of English and Dutch, and a positivity (P600) for referential failure, in line with previous studies. There was no relationship between ERPs and working memory measures. These results suggest that speakers of different languages may differ in how they process referential ambiguity, but not referential failure.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Chapter 1. Geographic variation of voseo on Spanish Twitter 7
  5. Chapter 2. Organic models for measuring Spanish learners’ linguistic complexity 39
  6. Chapter 3. Role of social interaction abroad in the L2 acquisition of sociolinguistic variation 63
  7. Chapter 4. The effect of grammatical person on subject pronoun expression in the oral narratives of Spanish second language learners 85
  8. Chapter 5. Pied-piping in degree wh-clauses in Spanish 109
  9. Chapter 6. Degree, time and focus 133
  10. Chapter 7. Neural evidence for the processing of referential ambiguity and referential failure in Spanish 153
  11. Chapter 8. The overt pronoun penalty for plural anaphors in Spanish 175
  12. Chapter 9. On the origins of Portuguese para form variation 189
  13. Chapter 10. Developing epistemic meaning 215
  14. Chapter 11. The acquisition of personal a among Chinese-speaking L2 learners of Spanish 233
  15. Chapter 12. Proposing a tripartite intensifier system 253
  16. Chapter 13. Public signage in a multilingual Caribbean enclave 273
  17. Chapter 14. No es tan simple como parece 295
  18. Chapter 15. The acquisition of obligatory and variable mood selection in epistemic predicates by L2 learners and heritage speakers of Spanish 319
  19. Index 343
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.27.07fer

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Chapter 1. Geographic variation of voseo on Spanish Twitter 7
  5. Chapter 2. Organic models for measuring Spanish learners’ linguistic complexity 39
  6. Chapter 3. Role of social interaction abroad in the L2 acquisition of sociolinguistic variation 63
  7. Chapter 4. The effect of grammatical person on subject pronoun expression in the oral narratives of Spanish second language learners 85
  8. Chapter 5. Pied-piping in degree wh-clauses in Spanish 109
  9. Chapter 6. Degree, time and focus 133
  10. Chapter 7. Neural evidence for the processing of referential ambiguity and referential failure in Spanish 153
  11. Chapter 8. The overt pronoun penalty for plural anaphors in Spanish 175
  12. Chapter 9. On the origins of Portuguese para form variation 189
  13. Chapter 10. Developing epistemic meaning 215
  14. Chapter 11. The acquisition of personal a among Chinese-speaking L2 learners of Spanish 233
  15. Chapter 12. Proposing a tripartite intensifier system 253
  16. Chapter 13. Public signage in a multilingual Caribbean enclave 273
  17. Chapter 14. No es tan simple como parece 295
  18. Chapter 15. The acquisition of obligatory and variable mood selection in epistemic predicates by L2 learners and heritage speakers of Spanish 319
  19. Index 343
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