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Reduction of the late N1/N250 component after valid parafoveal previews as a robust indicator of visual-orthographic facilitation that depends on experience
Poster Session A, Friday, September 12, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm, Field House
Urs Maurer1, Xin Huang1, Ming Yan2, Olaf Dimigen3, Werner Sommer4; 1The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2University of Macau, 3University of Groningen, 4Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Previous research demonstrated functional divergence between early and late parts of the N1 ERP component in response to visual words. Here we show a similar divergence in fixation-related potentials (FRP) across three studies in Chinese. Consistently, the late (but not early) N1/N250 component was reduced after valid previews (also termed “preview positivity”). Experiment 1 showed the late N1/N250 effect occurred similarly for magnocellular and parvocellular stimuli. Experiment 2 showed the late N1/N250 effect in FRPs was similar in timing and distribution but more pronounced compared to masked priming effects in ERPs. Experiment 3 showed the late N1/N250 facilitation depended on experience with the direction of a writing system, as Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese participants showed an opposite pattern, consistent with their different exposure to horizontal vs. vertical writing. The results suggest that the late N1/N250 effect is a robust indicator of facilitation in visual-orthographic processing that is mediated through experience.
Topic Areas: Reading, Methods