The Syntactic Positive Shift (SPS) is an ERP measure of syntactic processing. Hagoort, Brown, and Groothusen (1993) present ERP data from an experiment on syntactic processing in Dutch. Subjects read sentences containing violations of syntactic constraints. The ERP results show an electrophysiological response to syntactic processing that differs from semantic processing. This response is called the Syntactic Positive Shift (SPS). The SPS was observed in an experiment with no additional task demands. The pattern of responses to different syntactic violations suggests that the SPS indicates the parser's inability to assign the preferred structure to an incoming word string. The findings suggest that the SPS is a distinct ERP component for syntactic processing. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for parsing research. It also reviews previous ERP studies on syntactic processing, noting that no specific ERP component has been established for syntactic violations. The authors argue that ERP studies can provide new insights into parsing models, particularly regarding the autonomous or interactive nature of parsing. The study used three types of syntactic violations in Dutch: agreement violations, subcategorisation violations, and phrase structure violations. ERP data were collected to examine the effects of these violations. The results showed a positive shift in the ERP waveform for the incorrect critical words, which was not observed for correct words. The negative shift was observed for the two word positions preceding the critical word. The negative shift at the penultimate and sentence-final word positions was also significant. The authors interpret the negativity as a manifestation of semantic processing problems resulting from the syntactic violation. The study highlights the complexity of ERP responses to syntactic processing and the need for further research to understand the nature of syntactic ERP responses.The Syntactic Positive Shift (SPS) is an ERP measure of syntactic processing. Hagoort, Brown, and Groothusen (1993) present ERP data from an experiment on syntactic processing in Dutch. Subjects read sentences containing violations of syntactic constraints. The ERP results show an electrophysiological response to syntactic processing that differs from semantic processing. This response is called the Syntactic Positive Shift (SPS). The SPS was observed in an experiment with no additional task demands. The pattern of responses to different syntactic violations suggests that the SPS indicates the parser's inability to assign the preferred structure to an incoming word string. The findings suggest that the SPS is a distinct ERP component for syntactic processing. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for parsing research. It also reviews previous ERP studies on syntactic processing, noting that no specific ERP component has been established for syntactic violations. The authors argue that ERP studies can provide new insights into parsing models, particularly regarding the autonomous or interactive nature of parsing. The study used three types of syntactic violations in Dutch: agreement violations, subcategorisation violations, and phrase structure violations. ERP data were collected to examine the effects of these violations. The results showed a positive shift in the ERP waveform for the incorrect critical words, which was not observed for correct words. The negative shift was observed for the two word positions preceding the critical word. The negative shift at the penultimate and sentence-final word positions was also significant. The authors interpret the negativity as a manifestation of semantic processing problems resulting from the syntactic violation. The study highlights the complexity of ERP responses to syntactic processing and the need for further research to understand the nature of syntactic ERP responses.