| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000)
Fiscal Year 1997: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 1996: ¥1,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000)
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| Research Abstract |
In a series of experiments, using the event-related brain potential and behavioral measures, we investigated the degree of semantic processing received by unattended items.
Auditory experiments
1.A prominent attenuation of N400 due to word repetition was observed when both first and second presentations were the object of attention. However, when first presentations were in the unattended ear, no repetition effect was obtained. Following the idea that N400 reflects the contextual integration process(es), these findings suggest that only the object of attention is integrated with its context.
2.A large N400 development and its modulation with semantic priming only for words in the attended ear confirmed the focusing of subject's attention to the to-be-attended ear during selective listening. In a recognition memory test, inconsistent with Bentin et al. (1995) , the percentage of false positives for lures, that were semantically related to "old" words, was higher when they had been attended than when unattended, suggesting that attention operates before activating semantic representation.
Visual experiments
3. Following N190, P240 and N320 observed during face-picture selection of men and women, N410 was elicited when selection of their occupational attribute was added and its amplitude was affected by the familiarity level. The N410 behavior suggests that information selection occurs prior to semantic classification in the model of Bruce and Young (1986) .
4. In a comparison between a ascending series, that the distinctiveness of face pictures was gradually increased with five steps, and its reverse descending series, P170 at Cz showed to be affected by the subjective image of face as well as facial structures. This paradigm will be a useful tool to investigate the face recognition processes, although the recording issues of face-related potentials (i.e., P170, N170) and the relation with the other components should be addressed.
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