Thus, a CNV may indicate not only preparation to action but also general guidelines for social life. Importantly, this transfer is combined with a change of time frames, from restricted and highly pragmatic (as in the original paradigm) to indefinite and vague. Thus, transfer to remote semantic fields seems possible. The results show that the CNV is sensitive to phrase constructions of moral resp.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) data were bandpass filtered (0.1–30 Hz) and analyzed at the onset of the second word, yielding two independent responses: a bilateral CNV and a bilateral motor-related negativity, both decreasing from anterior to posterior. The task varied according to block order: Participants ( n = 19) had to either listen attentively or respond with a finger tap immediately after the final word of a phrase. During recording, each phrase type (e.g., moral or immoral) was presented blockwise. In step 2, these commands were replaced by abstract words, each phrase then including a verb of moral or immoral meaning (e.g., “You should hope,” “You should praise,” and “You should lie”). In step 1, the original CNV paradigm (S1–S2–motor response) was extended using action-demanding three-word phrases taken from everyday contexts (e.g., “Ready–Set–Go”). The results of this study suggest that the contingent negative variation (CNV) serves as a neural correlate for moral (and immoral) predictive phrases. Moral advice (how to behave in life) is often conveyed by short, simple sentence constructions: “ You – should – (plus verb with moral meaning).” Yet how moral prescriptions are processed has never been studied from a neurocognitive perspective. Institute of Systematic Musicology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.

Goldwave 6.23 serial key