This event-related potential (ERP) study examined the effect of congruent emotional context on the processing of subsequent emotional words during discourse comprehension. We used two-sentence discourses as materials and constructed three types of discourse: one where both sentences conveyed a negative emotion (Negative-Negative), one where the first sentence conveyed a neutral emotion and the second a negative one (Neutral-Negative), and one where neither sentence conveyed a negative emotion (Neutral-Neutral). In all conditions, an identical target word was embedded in the second sentence that, combined with the local context, conveyed either a negative or a neutral emotion. Participants were asked to read for comprehension and rate the emotionality of each discourse. The ERP results showed that, when both sentences conveyed negative emotion, the target words induced a smaller N400 than when neither of the sentences conveyed a negative emotion. The target words also induced a larger late positivity when both sentences conveyed negative emotion than when either only the second sentence or neither sentence did. Our results indicate that congruent emotional context weakens semantic analysis and leads to more elaborated emotional evaluation in the later stage of discourse comprehension. These findings help clarify the effect of emotional context in language comprehension.

这项与事件相关的电位（ERP）研究检查了语篇理解过程中，一致的情境对后续情感词处理的影响。我们以两句话语为材料，构建了三种类型的话语：一种是两个句子都传达了一种负面情绪（Negative-Negative），一种是第一句话传达了一种中性情绪，第二种表达了负面的情绪（Neutral-Negative），还有一个句子都没有传达负面情绪（中性-中性）。在所有情况下，第二个句子中都嵌入了一个相同的目标词，结合当地的语境，传达了一种消极情绪或中性情绪。要求参与者阅读理解内容并评估每种话语的情感程度。ERP结果表明，当两个句子都传达负面情绪时，与两个句子都没有传达负面情绪时相比，目标词产生的N400较小。当两个句子都传达负面情绪时，与仅第二个句子或两个句子都没有表达时相比，目标词也产生更大的后期积极性。我们的研究结果表明，在语篇理解的后期，一致的情感语境会削弱语义分析，并导致更加详尽的情感评估。这些发现有助于阐明情绪情境在语言理解中的作用。我们的研究结果表明，在语篇理解的后期，一致的情感语境会削弱语义分析，并导致更加详尽的情感评估。这些发现有助于阐明情绪情境在语言理解中的作用。我们的研究结果表明，在语篇理解的后期，一致的情感语境会削弱语义分析，并导致更加详尽的情感评估。这些发现有助于阐明情绪情境在语言理解中的作用。