Is the donut in front of the car? An electrophysiological study examining spatial reference frame processing

The process of describing an objects location relative to another object re sults in ambiguity. How do people handle this ambiguity? The present studie s examined spatial language processing when use of different reference fram es results in ambiguity. We investigated whether electrophysiological (ERP) measures of cognitive processing may elucidate underlying reference frame processing: in particular, we were interested in semantic integration. ERP results showed a larger N400, peaking between 300 and 375 ms, when the intr insic frame was not used. Behavioural results mirrored this finding, indica ting a reduced cognitive processing requirement for the intrinsic reference frame. Previous work has not definitively tied spatial reference frame pro cessing to specific ERP components and their associated cognitive processes . Although the N400 peak seen in this data is early, additional work suppor ts the N400 interpretation, thereby linking spatial frame processing to sem antic integration. Results are discussed within the larger context of spati al reference frame processing.