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The Continuous Visual Memory Test (CVMT; Trahan & Larrabee, 1988) is a recognition format assessment of figural memory. It includes 112 ambiguous designs presented sequentially, with a number of designs that recur through the 112 presentations. The patient's task is to identify the recurring figures by responding with the word “old” for recurring stimuli and “new” for non-recurring stimuli. This study examined cortical event-related potentials during discrimination of old vs. new stimuli. While no latency differences between stimuli were found, P300 amplitude was greater during recognition of old stimuli and increasingly prominent at anterior sites. A stimulus by electrode site interaction suggests greater functional involvement in the discrimination by the frontal areas. This points to a degree of psychophysiological validation of the CVMT and cortical specificity of the task. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The P300 is a component of cortical event related-potentials that has been linked to memory and recognition. This study examined P300 amplitude and latency during recognition of pairs of words from the WMS-R Verbal Paired Associate Learning subscale. After 24 subjects learned the pairs of words, they were shown pairs of words taken directly from the subscale that were combined to form matching or nonmatching pairs. This parallels the Delayed Recall subtest of the WMS-R. P300 amplitude was greater during recognition of matching word pairs and most prominent at central and parietal recording sites. P300 latency was shorter for matching than for nonmatching pairs. This points to a degree of psychophysiological validity of the WMS-R paired associate learning delayed recall task.