Similar event-related potentials to structural violations in music and language: A replication of Patel, Gibson, Ratner, Besson, & Holcomb (1998)

Joshua de Leeuw; Jan Andrews; Zariah Altman; Rebecca Andrews; Robert Appleby; James Bonnano; Isabella DeStefano; Eileen Doyle-Samay; Ayela Faruqui; Christina Griesmer; Jackie Hwang; Rena Lee; Yunfei Liang; John Mernacaj; Henry Molina; Hui Xin Ng; Steven Park; Thomas Possidente; Anne Shriver

doi:10.15626/MP.2018.1481

Authors

Joshua de Leeuw Vassar College
Jan Andrews Vassar College
Zariah Altman Vassar College
Rebecca Andrews Vassar College
Robert Appleby Vassar College
James Bonnano Vassar College
Isabella DeStefano Vassar College
Eileen Doyle-Samay Vassar College
Ayela Faruqui Vassar College
Christina Griesmer Vassar College
Jackie Hwang Vassar College
Rena Lee Vassar College
Yunfei Liang Vassar College
John Mernacaj Vassar College
Henry Molina Vassar College
Hui Xin Ng Vassar College
Steven Park Vassar College
Thomas Possidente Vassar College
Anne Shriver Vassar College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15626/MP.2018.1481

Abstract

We report a replication of Patel, Gibson, Ratner, Besson, and Holcomb (1998). The results of our replication are largely consistent with the conclusions of the original study. We found evidence of a P600 component of the event-related potential (ERP) in response to syntactic violations in language and harmonic inconsistencies in music. There were some minor differences in the spatial distribution of the P600 on the scalp between the replication and the original. The experiment was pre-registered at https://osf.io/g3b5j/. We conducted this experiment as part of an undergraduate cognitive science research methods class at Vassar College; we discuss the practice of integrating replication work into research methods courses.