Comparing arithmetic and semantic fact retrieval: Effects of problem size and sentence constraint on event‐related brain potentials

Abstract

Abstract Event‐related potentials were recorded with 61 electrodes from 16 students who verified either the correctness of single‐digit multiplication problems or the semantic congruency of sentences. Multiplication problems varied in size and sentence fragments in constraint. Both semantic and arithmetic incongruencies evoked a typical N400 with a clear parieto‐central maximum. In addition, numerically larger problems (8×7), in comparison to smaller problems (3×2), evoked a negativity starting at about 360 ms whose maximum was located over the right temporal‐parietal scalp. These results indicate that the arithmetic incongruency and the problem‐size effect are functionally distinct. It is suggested that the arithmetic and the semantic incongruency effects are both functionally related to a context‐dependent spread of activation in specialized associative networks, whereas the arithmetic problem‐size effect is due to rechecking routines that go beyond basic fact retrieval.