Lingering expectations: A pseudo-repetition effect for words previously expected but not presented.

Abstract Prediction can help support rapid language processing. However, it is unclear whether prediction has downstream consequences, beyond processing in the moment. In particular, when a prediction is disconfirmed, does it linger, or is it suppressed? This study manipulated whether words were actually seen or were only expected, and probed their fate in memory by presenting the words (again) a few sentences later. If disconfirmed predictions linger, subsequent processing of the previously expected (but never presented) word should be similar to actual word repetition. At initial presentation, electrophysiological signatures of prediction disconfirmation demonstrated that participants had formed expectations. Further downstream, relative to unseen words, repeated words elicited a strong N400 decrease, an enhanced late positive complex (LPC), and late alpha band power decreases. Critically, like repeated words, words previously expected but not presented also attenuated the N400. This "pseudo-repetition effect" suggests that disconfirmed predictions can linger at some stages of processing, and demonstrates that prediction has downstream consequences beyond rapid on-line processing. Highlights • This study manipulated whether words were seen previously or only expected. • Repetition effects were observed on the N400, late positive complex and alpha power. • Like repeated words, previously expected words elicited an N400 repetition effect. • Results suggest that disconfirmed expectations are not fully suppressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]