Implicit theories play an important role in the structure and maintenance of people’s sense of meaning, and violations to one’s theory can create significant distress. Using electroencephalography (EEG), this study examined the neural correlates of implicit theory violation. Participants were primed with one of two implicit theories of success attainment and were then shown a series of words that either confirmed or violated that theory. Analyses revealed that compared to implicit theory confirmations, implicit theory violations produced greater N400 amplitudes, which is a brain wave associated with “semantic violations,” or violations of meaning. Current literature on the N400 has been limited to language-specific semantic violations. Therefore, these results represent a novel extension of the N400 to include violations of complex lay theories of human behavior. Furthermore, these data suggest that implicit theories represent a fundamental type of semantic knowledge that helps perceivers to generate predictions about the social world.

Implicit theories play an important role in the structure and maintenance of people’s sense of meaning, and violations to one’s theory can create significant distress. Using electroencephalography (EEG), this study examined the neural correlates of implicit theory violation. Participants were primed with one of two implicit theories of success attainment and were then shown a series of words that either confirmed or violated that theory. Analyses revealed that compared to implicit theory confirmations, implicit theory violations produced greater N400 amplitudes, which is a brain wave associated with “semantic violations,” or violations of meaning. Current literature on the N400 has been limited to language-specific semantic violations. Therefore, these results represent a novel extension of the N400 to include violations of complex lay theories of human behavior. Furthermore, these data suggest that implicit theories represent a fundamental type of semantic knowledge that helps perceivers to generate predictions about the social world.