Tracking narrative voice (first-vs. third-person) in externally focalized narratives: An ERP study

This event-related potentials (ERP) study investigated the neural processing of narrative voice, operationalized as grammatical person, in short, externally focalized narratives. Thirty-six participants read three-sentence stories written in the first or third person, in which discourse congruence was manipulated by means of action verbs that were either congruent or incongruent with the preceding discourse context. ERPs were time-locked to the target verbs. Results revealed an effect of semantic congruence on the N400 component (350–550 ms), with incongruent verbs eliciting larger centro-parietal negativities than congruent verbs, indicating increased semantic integration demands. No reliable modulation of the N400 by narrative voice was found. In a later time window (550–700 ms), an exploratory interaction between Narrative voice x Hemisphere was observed over temporal electrodes, although this effect was not supported by significant post hoc comparisons and should therefore be interpreted cautiously. Taken together, these findings suggest that while discourse-level coherence strongly constrains online semantic processing, effects of narrative voice are attenuated when grammatical person is manipulated under conditions of external focalization. These results highlight the importance of focalization and methodological control when investigating neural correlates of narrative voice. • Examined narrative voice effects on story comprehension using ERPs. • Compared first- and third-person narratives using congruent and incongruent action verbs. • Incongruent verbs elicited a N400 effect across narrative voices. • An exploratory Narrative Voice × Hemisphere interaction emerged in the P600 window. • Grammatical person alone did not yield robust neural differences in discourse processing.