Attentional Focus During Learning Impacts N170 ERP Responses to an Artificial Script

Abstract

Reading instruction can direct attention to different unit sizes in print-to-speech mapping, ranging from grapheme-phoneme to whole-word relationships. Thus, attentional focus during learning might influence brain mechanisms recruited during reading, as indexed by the N170 response to visual words. To test this, two groups of adults were trained to read an artificial script under instructions directing attention to grapheme-phoneme versus whole-word associations. N170 responses were subsequently contrasted within an active reading task. Grapheme-phoneme focus drove a left-lateralized N170 response relative to the right-lateralized N170 under whole-word focus. These findings suggest a key role for attentional focus in early reading acquisition.

Notes

This work was supported by grants to BDM from the National Science Foundation (REC-0337715) and National Institutes of Health (NIDCD-R01-DC007694) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (Fellowship for Prospective Researchers: UM).

1. The group difference in lateralization for trained characters was also significant in the extended N170 interval spanning 170–218 msec (2 × 2 ANOVA on the x-axis for trained characters with within-subject factor “polarity” and between-subject factor “group”: “polarity” by “group” F(1,28) = 4.764, p < .05).

2. The group lateralization difference for transfer characters in the 170–218 msec interval also exhibited a non-significant trend (2 × 2 ANOVA on the x-axis for transfer characters with within-subject factor “polarity” and between-subject factor “group”: “polarity” by “group” F(1,28) = 3.080, p = .09).