Electrophysiological activity during the processing of syllables and prefixes.

Abstract

Many prefixes in Spanish agree with the first syllable boundary of the words. This research carried out a ERPs (Event Related Potentials) experiment comparing a prefix priming (e.g. infeliz-INCAPAZ –unhappy-unable) with a syllabic priming (e.g. caliza-CACHETE –limestone-slap). The results showed an early activation (100-200ms) for prefixed words category. However, the syllabic priming did not reach significant differences at this component. Between 400 and 600ms morphologically related pairs evoked more positive values than the base-line as a consequence of an easier integration between prime and target. On the contrary, syllabically related pairs showed a larger negativity at this window. These contrasting results show a different course of processing depending on the relationship: morphological or phonological, existing between prime and target.