Ereigniskorrelierte Potenziale (EKPs)

Abstract

In this article we give a short introduction to the online method of event-related (brain) potentials (ERPs) and their importance for our understanding of language structure and grammar. This methodology places high demands on (technical) requirements for laboratory equipment as well as on the skills of the investigator. However, the high costs are relatively balanced compared to the advantages of this experimental method. By using ERPs, it becomes possible to monitor the electrophysiological brain activity associated with speech processing in real time (millisecond by millisecond) and to draw conclusions on human language processing and the human parser. First, we present briefly how this method works and how ERPs can be classified (Section 1 and 2). In the following, we show that the ERP method can be used to study the processing of e. g. semantic, pragmatic and syntactic information (Section 3). Crucial for our discussion will be the interpretation of the so-called ERP components and their connection and importance for psycholinguistics and theoretical linguistics. In our presentation, we emphasize, that the electrophysiological brain activity in relation to specific (e. g. linguistic) stimuli can be used to identify distinct processes, which give a deeper insight into the different processing steps of language. At the end of this article (Section 4), we present some results from ERP studies of German negative-polar elements. Additionally, we highlight the advantage and benefits of an alternative method to analyze ERP data compared to the more ‘classical’ average technique.