In discourse pragmatics, different referential forms are claimed to be indicative of the cognitive status of a referent in the current discourse. Referential expressions thereby possess a double function: they point back to an (existing) referent (form-to-function mapping), and they are used to derive predictions about a referent’s subsequent recurrence in discourse. Existing event-related potential (ERP) research has mainly focused on the form-to-function mapping of referential expression. In the present ERP study, we explore the relationship of form-to-function mapping and prediction derived from the antecedent of referential expressions in naturalistic auditory language comprehension. Specifically, the study investigates the relationship between the form of a referential expression (pronoun vs. noun) and the form of its antecedent (pronoun vs. noun), i.e. it examines the influence of the interplay of predictions derived from an antecedent (forward-looking function) and the form-to-function mapping of an anaphor (backward-looking function) on the ERPs time-locked to anaphoric expressions. The results in the time range of the P300 and N400 allow for a dissociation of these two functions during online language comprehension.

中文翻译：

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参考链揭示预测过程和形式到功能的映射：使用自然故事刺激的脑电图研究

在语篇语用学中，人们声称不同的指称形式可以指示当前语篇中所指对象的认知状态。因此，指称表达具有双重功能：它们指向一个（现有的）所指（形式到功能的映射），并且它们被用来推导出对所指随后在话语中重复出现的预测。现有的事件相关电位（ERP）研究主要集中在指称表达的形式到功能的映射上。在目前的 ERP 研究中，我们探索了从自然听觉语言理解中的指称表达的前因得出的形式到功能的映射和预测的关系。具体而言，该研究调查了指称表达形式（代词与名词）与其先行词形式（代词与名词）之间的关系。名词），即它检查从先行词（前瞻功能）和回指（回溯功能）的形式到功能映射对时间锁定到回指表达的 ERP 的预测的相互作用的影响。P300 和 N400 时间范围内的结果允许在在线语言理解过程中将这两种功能分离。