Hi everyone! I'm preparing an ERP study of written sentence processing in school aged children. My target population are children between 8 and 11 years old, and I'm aiming to examine N400 and P600 effects after semantic and syntax violations. Sentences will be displayed on the center of a computer screen, word by word (rapid serial visual presentation). I wanted to ask your opinion about what would be the optimal SOA (stimulus onset asynchrony) to maximize the probability of actually seeing the language-related ERP effects, as it has been shown that presentation rate may affect the magnitude of these potentials, at least in certain populations (like L2 and older adults).
Thanks for your kind attention!
Hi Angel Tabullo --really neat study design! In our study of typically developing children this same age and slightly older, we had them "read sets of three sentences presented word-by-word with a target word, either real or novel, as the last word in each sentence. Sentences were presented word-by-word with each word appearing for 500 ms and a blank screen between words appearing for 300 ms. The blank screen directly preceding the target word was presented for 600 ms to establish a baseline for analysis of the novel word. The target word was presented for 600 ms" (Abel, Schneider & Maguire, 2018). I would also recommend Hagoort, 2003 "Interplay between Syntax and Semantics during Sentence Comprehension: ERP Effects of Combining Syntactic and Semantic Violations" for guidelines in study design (i.e. start-up and wrap-up effects) that I have found most useful for my own studies of semantic and syntactic processing in 8-12 year olds. Look forward to reading more of your work in the future!
Thank you so much, that was really helpful! I'll be getting those articles right away.
After reviewing the literature, i was considering to go with a 1000 ms SOA, with 700 ms for each word and a 300 ms blank screen in between. In this way, i was hoping to make sure that all children were able to read all the words with ease (sentences are 4-7 words long).
Every opinion is welcome! I'll share the results as soon as I have them.
Thanks Nayereh, I already have Luck's book (but it does not deal with reading ERP studies in children, specifically), I'll try to get the one by Friederici...
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