Chunk decomposition contributes to forming new mental representations: An ERP study

• Chunk decomposition contributes to new mental representations formation.
• Early perceptual processing elicited a N100 deflection.
• Novel mental representations integration elicited a P300 deflection.
• Chunk tightness modulates the integrating process.

Whereas previous studies mainly focused on the role of chunk decomposition on how to break impasse in insight occurrence, our study aimed to investigate the role of chunk decomposition in forming new mental representations. For this purpose, the Chinese riddle comprehension task was employed in which the riddle involves either tight or loose chunk decomposition. The event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured after the onset of an answer hint, with which participants were instructed to comprehend the Chinese riddles. The behavioral results showed that participants performed worse on riddle comprehension in tight chunk condition than in loose chunk condition. In addition, we found larger N100 and P300 deflections in the former condition than in the latter condition. These findings suggest that early perceptual processing is crucially required by chunk decomposition, which contributes to forming new mental representations by integrating the perceptual and semantic information.