The relationship between N1 print tuning and literacy in Chinese children

Abstract

To examine how word-likeness affects N1 during single character Chinese word processing, and its relationship to literacy measures, 14 grade 2 to 3 children (M=7.67, SD=0.57 years old) were given Chinese literacy measures, including tasks of word reading and one-minute word reading. Electroencephalogram was recorded during a character lexical decision task. Comparisons among four experimental conditions, including real character, pseudo character (combining real radicals in their legal positions), reversed character (reversing the radical position of a real character to form an illegal character), and stroke combination were made for N1 peak latency and mean amplitude. Peak latency results indicated that the stroke combination had the fastest N1. Mean amplitude results indicated a significant word-likeness effect and a significant laterality by word-likeness interaction. Follow up contrasts showed these patterns on N1: Left hemisphere: Real = Pseudo < Reversed < Stroke; Right hemisphere: Real = Pseudo = Reversed < Stroke. Word reading and one-minute word reading were significantly correlated with the coarse character tuning effect. These results indicate word-likeness can be reflected in the N1. Radical position legality and radical information are the most important influences on N1. This neurological indicator was strongly correlated with both word reading (r=-.78, p<.01) and one-minute word reading (r=-.68, p<.01).