Paradigms

Question 1

Oddball Paradigm

Answer 1

• Used in ERP research to study effects of stimulus novelty and significance on information processing
• P300 : In ERP research it has been found that an event-related potential across the parieto-central area of the skull that usually occurs around 300 ms after stimuli presentation
• P300 larger after target stimulus > only occurs if the subject is actively engaged in the task of detecting the targets
• amplitude varies with the improbability of the targets, latency varies with the difficulty of discriminating the target stimulus from the standard stimuli
• However, an oddball tends to be perceptually more novel than the standard, repeated stimulus as well as more relevant to the ongoing task, making it difficult to disentangle effects due to perceptual novelty and stimulus significance. Evaluating different brain ERPs can decipher this effect.

Question 2

Verbal Interference

Answer 2

• Psychological test measuring a person’s ability to ignore irrelevant information and focus on a specific task
• often used to assess attention, memory, cognitive control

Question 3

Verbal Interference Strengths

Answer 3

Versatility : adaptable to a wide range of cognitive skills
Ease: Easy to administer, no special equipment needed
Objective : Quantifiable allowing for comparisons across individuals or groups