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Abstract:
Event-relate
d brain potential
s (ERPs
) an d behavioura
l measure
s (reactio
n
time s an d errors
) were used to stud y the potentia
l effect
s of individua
l
difference
s in verba
l workin
g memor
y capacit
y (low vs . high readin
g span
)
and a concurren
t verba
l workin
g memor
y loa d (lo w vs. hig h load) on th e
processin
g of sentence
s wit h a loca l syntacti
c ambiguit
y in German
. The sentence
s wer e disambiguate
d at the clause-
nal auxiliar
y to eithe
r a subjec
t
relativ
e (SR) claus
e or to an objec
t relativ
e (OR
) clause
. Th e processin
g
dif cult y fo r the OR as compare
d to the SR clause
s was reecte d in wors
e
off-lin
e comprehensio
n performance
, particularl
y for lo w span readers
.
Moreover
, ERP
s time-locke
d to th e disambiguatin
g auxiliar
y showe
d an
earl y posterio
r positivit
y betwee
n 200 –35 0 ms for OR clause
s as compare
d to
SR clause
s fo r high span readers
. Lo w spa n readers
, in contrast
, showe
d a
late fronta
l positivit
y betwee
n 500 and 800 ms. Whil
e the early positivit
y
for high spa n reader
s was independen
t of th e concurren
t load , th e late
positivit
y varie
d as a functio
n of concurren
t load , being delaye
d in th e
hig h load condition
. Thes
e result
s indicat
e that syntacti
c processe
s in
languag
e comprehensio
n are relate
d to individua
l difference
s in parsin
g
strategies.
