Positional influences on information packaging: Insights from topological fields in German

We present three event-related potential studies that investigated the contribution of givenness and position-induced topicality (what a sentence is about) to information processing. The studies compared two types of referential expressions (given and inferred noun phrases (NPs)) in distinct sentential positions. The data revealed position-specific effects, reflected by an interaction of topicality and givenness: inferred NPs registered a more pronounced Late Positivity than given NPs in the canonical sentence-medial position, but not sentence-initially (Experiment 1). Additionally, there was a stable effect of givenness across positions, reflected by an N400 for inferred over given NPs. From a discourse dynamic perspective, the N400 is considered to reflect context-induced linking processes. The Late Positivity is associated with maintaining and updating discourse structure and manifests position-specific instructions for information storage. Subsequent studies strengthened this information packaging account by showing that the Late Positivity pattern is unaffected by syntactic function reanalysis (Experiment 2) or dislocation demands (Experiment 3).

► We recorded ERPs during referential processing in discourse.
► We examined the role of givenness and positional topicality.
► Givenness affects early linking processes (N400-modulations).
► Position-specific constraints guide later discourse updating (Late Positivity).
► Information processing relies on position-specific instructions.