The Event Related Brain Potential as an Index of Information Processing, Cognitive Activity, and Skill Acquisition: A Program of Basic Research.

We review a program of research designed to understand the event-related brain potential (ERP) so that it can be used as a tool in the study of cognitive function and in the assessment of man-machine systems. We have conducted a series of studies on the functional significance of ERPs and have demonstrated that the P300 component is related to memory processes. We have used measures of the same component to evaluate workload, to time mental processes, to study the reciprocity of processing resources, and to extend theories of human information processing. We have also made technical advances in the analysis of the distribution of electrical potentials across the scalp. Keywords: Event-related brain potential (ERP); P300; Memory; Mental chronometry; Information processing; Workload; Automatic versus controlled processing; Resource reciprocity; Dual tasks vector filters.