An Event-Related Potential Analysis of Coding Processes in Human Memory

Abstract

This chapter discusses an event-related potential (ERP) analysis of coding processes in human memory. The endogenous ERPs have been shown to vary in the context of learning and memory tasks. For example, several lines of evidence indicate that the contingent negative variation (CNV) and P300 components reflect the processes of acquisition and retention in short term memory situations. One question to emerge from these results is the extent to which ERP changes can be related to retention over the longer term, i.e., in situations where memory is not tested immediately on every trial. It would be of interest to observe the extent to which ERPs reflect the level of perceptual processing at acquisition, and how such processing manifests itself in memory performance. Phonemic encodings yield intermediate performance. An ancillary finding is that words yielding a “yes” response to a query are better remembered than those yielding a “no” response in phonemic and semantic levels of processing. These effects have been obtained in a number of other experiments and represent a robust behavioral phenomenon with which to test the utility of ERPs as indices of learning and memory.