Left anterior negativities (LANs) as electro-encephalographic responses to the processing of morphologically complex words: rules or storage? (360G-Wellcome-080127_Z_06_Z)

This project investigates the nature of a language-related EEG effect, i.e. the left anterior negativity (LAN), focussing on its elicitation by misapplications of morphological rules during the visual processing of words. Previous studies have demonstrated a differential LAN for violations of morphological properties of irregular but not regular word forms. LANs have also been shown to be sensitive to violations of syntactic rules in sentences. In both cases, it has been argued that the LAN refl ects violations of rule-based procedures in language processing. A recent study, though, suggests that LANs elicited by morphological violations might be caused by a mismatch of the presented word with its stored representation in the mental lexicon instead of a misapplication of rules. The proposed project compares the effect of morphological, formal, and syntactic mismatches on the occurrence of LANs in German and English. Its primary aim is to provide a unified account of findings across a ra nge of languages and a clearer understanding of the functional source of LANs and possible sub-types. The results will clarify whether LANs provide diagnostic evidence for so-called rule and knowledge-based processes.