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Impaired semantic processing during task‐set switching: Evidence from the N400 in rapid serial visual presentation
Author(s) -
Vachon François,
Jolicœur Pierre
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2010.01040.x
Subject(s) - n400 , rapid serial visual presentation , task switching , psychology , cognition , semantic memory , stimulus (psychology) , control reconfiguration , set (abstract data type) , event related potential , task (project management) , cognitive psychology , communication , neuroscience , speech recognition , computer science , management , programming language , economics , embedded system
The cognitive system is able to reconfigure mental resources flexibly to adapt to new a task. While task‐set switching is known to be detrimental to behavioral performance, less is known about the precise loci of these effects on stimulus processing. We measured event‐related potentials to explore the neural consequences of task‐set switching on semantic processing. We examined the context‐sensitive N400 component evoked by the second of two target words embedded in a rapid serial visual presentation under conditions that involved either a task‐set switch or no switching. Whereas the N400 was unaffected by the lag separating the targets in the absence of switching, it was delayed and attenuated in the switch condition when the targets were adjacent in the sequence. These findings indicate that task‐set reconfiguration temporarily prevents semantic activation and provide evidence for the nonautomaticity of semantic processing of words.