The influence of event-related knowledge on verb-argument processing in aphasia. (January 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dickey, Michael Walsh; Warren, Tessa
• Is Part Of: Neuropsychologia. Volume 67(2015)
• Page Start: 63
• Page End: 81
• Publication Date: 2015-01
• Subjects: Language comprehension -- Conceptual semantics -- Aphasia -- Sentence processing; Neuropsychology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Psychophysiology -- Periodicals; Neuropsychologie -- Périodiques; Neuropsychology; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.12.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0028-3932

Abstract

Abstract: Event-related conceptual knowledge outside the language system rapidly affects verb-argument processing in unimpaired adults (McRae and Matsuki, 2009 ). Some have argued that verb-argument processing is in fact reducible to the activation of such event-related knowledge. However, data favoring this conclusion have come primarily from college-aged healthy adults, for whom both linguistic and conceptual semantic processing is fast and automatic. This study examined the influence of event-related knowledge on verb-argument processing among adults with aphasia ( n =8) and older unimpaired controls ( n =60), in two self-paced reading studies. Participants read sentences containing a plausible verb-argument combination ( Mary used a knife to chop the large carrots before dinner ), a combination that violated event-related world knowledge ( Mary used some bleach to clean the large carrots before dinner ), or a combination that violated the verb's selectional restrictions ( Mary used a pump to inflate the large carrots before dinner ). The participants with aphasia naturally split into two groups: Group 1 ( n =4) had conceptual-semantic impairments (evidenced by poor performance on tasks like Pyramids & Palm Trees) but reasonably intact language processing (higher Western Aphasia Battery Aphasia Quotients), while Group 2 ( n =4) had intact conceptual semantics but poorer language processing. Older unimpaired controls and aphasic Group 1 showed rapid on-line disruption for sentences with selectional-restriction violations (SRVs) and event-related knowledge violations, and also showed SRV-specific penalties in sentence-final acceptability judgments (Experiment 1) and comprehension questions (Experiment 2). In contrast, Group 2 showed very few reliable differences across conditions in either on-line or off-line measures. This difference between aphasic groups suggests that verb-related information and event-related knowledge may be dissociated in aphasia. Furthermore, it suggests that intact language processing is more critical for successful verb-argument integration than intact access to event-related world knowledge. This pattern is unexpected if verb-argument processing is reducible to activation of event-related conceptual knowledge. Highlights: Verb-argument processing was examined in older adults and people with aphasia (PWA). PWA with mild language deficits but poor conceptual semantics performed like controls. PWA with worse language deficits but good conceptual semantics did not. Language function is more important for verb-argument processing Access to conceptual semantics may not be necessary for verb-argument processing.