Fast syntax in the brain: Electrophysiological evidence from the rapid parallel visual presentation paradigm (RPVP).

In 2 ERP experiments participants read 4-word sequences presented for 200 ms (RPVP paradigm) and were required to decide whether the word grammatical or not. Experiment 1, sequence consisted of either a grammatically correct sentence (e.g., she can sing now) an ungrammatical scrambled now she). A reduced N400 effect was obtained in compared sequences. 2, critical comparison between types sequences: transposed-word you that wrong, transposing adjacent central words form sequence) control worry, any still forms sequence). An reduction observed relative We interpret these effects as evidence elementary syntactic representation be rapidly constructed on basis parallel processing identities their parts-of-speech.