ISSN 0439-755X
CN 11-1911/B

Acta Psychologica Sinica ›› 2022, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (2): 111-121.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00111

• Reports of Empirical Studies •     Next Articles

The influence of concreteness on emotional nouns valence processing: An ERP study

LUO Wenbo(), QI Zhengyang   

  1. Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience Research Center, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China
  • Received:2020-11-10 Published:2022-02-25 Online:2021-12-24
  • Contact: LUO Wenbo E-mail:luowb@lnnu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    General Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China(31871106)

Abstract:

Concreteness and abstractness are the poles of the same characteristic of the lexicon, and they are important factors that directly affect word processing. In this study, we employed the rapid serial visual presentation paradigm and EEG technology to explore the influence of concreteness on the emotional nouns processing within limited attention resources. The results showed that ERP components in the early and late stages of noun processing were modulated by valence, and emotional nouns elicited larger N170 and LPC amplitudes than neutral nouns. In addition, ERP components in the early and late stages of noun processing were modulated by concreteness, and concrete nouns elicited larger N170 and LPC amplitudes than abstract nouns. Concreteness affected the late stage of emotional noun processing. LPC amplitude distinguished abstract words with different emotional valence, while it only differentiated emotional concrete nouns from non-emotional concrete nouns, which indicated that abstract nouns may carry more emotional information than concrete nouns, reflecting elaborate emotion processing.

Key words: emotional nouns, concreteness, RSVP, event-related potential