In the eyetracking visual world paradigm, experimental subjects listen to a sentence while staring at an array of pictures on a computer monitor.
However, another experiment has shown that in a language with more flexible word order (German), comprehenders can also use context to predict the sentence's subject.
Data from this kind of experiment has supported the hypothesis that readers use contextual information to predict upcoming words during natural reading.
There is ongoing controversy about whether this M100 effect is related to the early left anterior negativity (eLAN), an event-related potential response to words that is theorized to reflect the brain's assignment of local phrase structure.
When experimental participants read words that are presented to the left or right of their visual fixation (stimulating the opposite hemisphere of the brain first), the larger P2 for words in highly constraining contexts is observed only for right visual field presentation (targeting left hemisphere).
Closely related, sentential constraint reflects the degree to which the context of the sentence constrains the number of acceptable continuations.
They found that when the most probable sentence completion began with a consonant, the N400 was larger for 'AN' than for 'A' and vice versa, suggesting that prediction occurs at both a semantic and lexical level during language processing.
Within the congruent condition, when comparing high- and low-cloze probability sentence final words, a PNP response (if it is observed) is generally distributed across the front of the scalp.
The fine spatial resolution afforded by fMRI allows cognitive neuroscientists to see in detail which areas of the brain are activated in relation to an experimental task.
This poor sensitivity to timing information makes fMRI a less useful technique than EEG or eyetracking for studying linguistic prediction.
[1] An fMRI test of this hypothesis showed that at longer intervals, the processing penalty for an incorrect prediction is related to heightened activity in the anterior cingulate gyrus and Broca's area.
[26] The PARLO ("Production Affects Reception in Left Only") framework is a theory of the neural domains supporting language prediction.
[17] The PARLO framework suggests that both prediction and integration occur during language processing but rely on the distinct contributions of the two hemispheres of the brain.
Empirical tests of this theory have shown a high degree of match between processing cost measures and the self-information values assigned to words.