Words and pictures: An electrophysiological investigation of domain specific processing in native Chinese and English speakers

► Line drawings, alphabetic words and logographic words yielded varying ERP patterns. ► Script-specific processing arose between 150 and 200 ms post-stimulus onset. ► Domain-specific but script-independent processing arose between 200 and 300 ms. ► Processing that depended on stimulus meaningfulness arose in the N400 time window.