Event-Related Potentials

Event-related potentials (ERPs) are electrical potentials generated by the brain that are related to specific internal or external events (e.g., stimuli, responses, decisions). They can be recorded noninvasively from almost any group of research participants, and they can provide information about a broad range of cognitive and affective processes. Consequently, the ERP technique has become a common tool in almost all areas of psychological research, and students and researchers must be able to understand and evaluate ERP studies in the literature. However, these studies often involve a set of terms and concepts that are unfamiliar to many psychologists; sev-eral technical issues must be understood before a student or researcher can read and evaluate ERP studies. The goal of this chapter is to provide students and researchers with this background information so that they can be informed con