Conditionals in Context: Brain Signatures of Prediction in Discourse

Abstract

Comprehenders are known to generate expectations about upcoming linguistic input on the sentence and discourse level. However, previous studies on prediction focused mainly on word-induced brain activity rather than brain activity preceding a critical stimulus. We present an EEG reading study using different types of conditional sentences in context in German (If vs. Only if P, Q. Not P.). The two kinds of conditionals have distinct semantics, such that the presented conditional scenarios containing only if would trigger stronger predictions about the continuation of the discourse (...Not Q.) than those containing bare if. Results show that higher predictability led to an increased predictive neural potential before the critical word revealing the discourse continuation, which was absent in the low predictability condition. Moreover, word-induced brain responses, foremost the attested P300 component, were found to be enhanced by unpredicted discourse continuations. Brain responses preceding and following the critical word were found to be correlated, which yields evidence for predictive processes modulating word-induced processing on the discourse level. These findings on predictive brain responses and their connection to discourse level processing advance our understanding of the role of predictive processing in brain and mind.

Note:
Funding Information: M.B. and M.L.’s work was supported by a DFG (German Research Foundation) grant for the project Semantics and Pragmatics of Conditional Connectives: Cross-linguistic and Experimental Perspectives (project number: 367088975).
Declaration of Interests: Authors have no competing interests to declare.

Keywords: discourse processing, conditionals, EEG, Prediction Potential, P300