한자와 한글 처리에서 보여지는 좌우반구 비대칭에 대한 전기생리학적 연구: 한자 능숙도 효과

Abstract

Reading the Korean Hanja (logographic) and Hangul (alphabetic) scripts invokes different underlying neural mechanisms based on the degree of grapheme-to-phoneme correspondence (GPC) in the two scripts. This study examined the distinct brain asymmetries in processing Hanja and Hangul scripts of the Korean language according to the Hanja proficiency levels of Korean native speakers. Twenty-five participants were divided into two groups according to their Hanja proficiency levels: High and low groups. Participants performed a lexical decision task (LDT) during the electroencephalogram (EEG) recording. Results revealed differential brain asymmetry patterns according to the participants’ Hanja proficiency levels. The high Hanja proficiency (HP) group showed a larger N400 lexicality effect in the right hemisphere, whereas the low Hanja proficiency (LP) group showed a larger N400 lexicality effect in the left hemisphere during Hanja script recognition. However, no distinct hemispheric asymmetry was observed according to Hanja proficiency levels when participants processed words written in Hangul script. These findings indicate that the processing of Korean Hanja script involves distinct neural processes distinguished from Hangul script processing, whereby different hemispheric specializations are involved according to the Hanja proficiency level of the reader.