A Comparison Between the Oddball Paradigm and the Multi-Feature Paradigm: Evidence From an Event-Related Potential Study on Processing Mandarin Vowels and Tones

The multi-feature paradigm, despite its growing use in studies on MMN (mismatch negativity), faces challenges in broader adoption due to doubts about its efficacy compared to the oddball paradigm. More studies are needed to determine whether the multi-feature paradigm is sensitive to capture the MMN under complex auditory conditions, particularly in tonal languages like Mandarin. In the present study, Mandarin syllables were used as stimuli to examine differences in event-related potentials (ERPs) between the two paradigms. Our findings indicate that both vowel and tone deviations elicited similar ERPs in both paradigms, thereby supporting the validity of the multi-feature paradigm. However, the MMNs elicited by vowels and tones in the multi-feature paradigm were smaller in amplitude and occurred earlier in latency. Furthermore, our findings revealed a distinct temporal course for processing consonants, vowels, and tones, with vowels eliciting the earliest latencies, followed by tones, and consonants demonstrating the longest latencies. These findings provide further evidence for the multi-feature paradigm to be used in MMN research.