• Fine-Grained Concreteness Effe...

Treffer: Fine-Grained Concreteness Effects on Word Processing and Representation Across Three Tasks: An ERP Study.

Title:
Fine-Grained Concreteness Effects on Word Processing and Representation Across Three Tasks: An ERP Study.
Authors:
Montefinese M; Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padova, Padova, Italy., Visalli A; IRCCS San Camillo Hospital, Venice, Italy.; Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neuroscience, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy., Angrilli A; Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.; Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy., Ambrosini E; Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.; Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Source:
Psychophysiology [Psychophysiology] 2025 May; Vol. 62 (5), pp. e70074.
Publication Type:
Journal Article
Language:
English
Journal Info:
Publisher: Blackwell Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0142657 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1469-8986 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00485772 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Psychophysiology Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s):
Publication: Malden, MA : Blackwell
Original Publication: Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins.
MeSH Terms:
Evoked Potentials*/physiology , Semantics* , Word Processing* , Cerebral Cortex*/physiology , Affect*/physiology, Humans ; Male ; Female ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Electroencephalography ; Reaction Time/physiology ; Psycholinguistics
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Grant Information:
GR-2019-12371166 Ministero della Salute; 2020529PCP Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca; NextGenerationEU European Union; Università degli Studi di Padova
Contributed Indexing:
Keywords: concreteness; event‐related potentials; semantic representation; task demands; word
Entry Date(s):
Date Created: 20250523 Date Completed: 20250523 Latest Revision: 20250525
Update Code:
20250525
PubMed Central ID:
PMC12100582
DOI:
10.1111/psyp.70074
PMID:
40406938
Database:
MEDLINE

Weitere Informationen

People process concrete words more quickly and accurately than abstract ones-the so-called "concreteness effect." This advantage also reflects differences in how the brain processes and stores concrete versus abstract words. In this electrophysiological study, we treated word concreteness as a continuous variable and examined its effects on ERPs across three tasks with distinct processing demands (semantic, affective, grammatical). Behavioral results revealed task-dependent concreteness effects: in the semantic task, reaction times were faster for words at both concreteness extremes, and the classical linear advantage emerged for concrete words. Mass univariate ERP analyses revealed distinct spatiotemporal patterns of task-dependent concreteness effects. In the semantic task, we identified three significant clusters reflecting increased parietal N2/P3-like and sustained bilateral fronto-temporal negativity ERPs and decreased central N400-like ERP for abstract words. By contrast, the affective task elicited an increased parietal P600-like ERP for abstract words. Moreover, results from multivariate representational similarity analysis and an intersection analysis revealed that concreteness is encoded in ERP spatiotemporal patterns from 450 ms onwards, regardless of task, suggesting its role not only as an organizational principle in semantic representation, but also as a factor influencing downstream word processing and univariate ERP concreteness effects. Our findings challenge and extend existing theories like the dual coding and context availability ones, highlighting the importance of treating concreteness as a continuous variable and considering task context in word processing studies. This approach, enabled by advanced analytical techniques, provides a more nuanced understanding of how the brain processes and represents words.
(© 2025 The Author(s). Psychophysiology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Psychophysiological Research.)