Question 14- Discuss The Role Of Semantic Processing And Its Neural Correlates In Aesthetic Perception

Question 1

What is semantic processing?

Answer 1

• When we listen to a sound or word and understand the meaning of it
• The deepest level of processing as we process it fully in order to understand the meaning behind the stimulus

Question 2

Adapa et al (2014)

Answer 2

-Looked at semantic processing under sedation

-PPs scanned awake, sedated and when recovering
•Had to make perceptual and semantic decisions about non-speech sounds and spoken words respectively

-Results:
•Activity in the left inferior gyrus was significantly reduced by sedation even though the PPs made accurate semantic decisions
•Activity in the left inferior temporal gyrus was preserved for words more than non-speech sounds

Question 3

Orgs et al (2006)

Answer 3

-Looked at conceptual priming across vision and sound
•PPs were required to listen to a sound then read a word, then after respond to the question “are the word and sound related”. To do this, after hearing the sound and reading the word they had to understand what they read/heard, then before responding had to compare the meanings of the sound and word

-Results:
•In the first 100ms, no difference in EEG recordings when in the congruent and incongruent conditions.
•Recordings show a difference of results when the meaning is being compared for congruent and incongruent conditions, such that there is an enhanced neural firing rate at N400 in the incongruent condition
~Suggests semantic surprise

Question 4

Koelsch et al (2004)

Answer 4

-Found that music and language can prime the meaning of a word
•EEG recordings showed similat activation patterns with language primes and music primes, suggesting music influences the processing of words
•N400 found to be an index of semantic surprise