ABSTRACT
Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were obtained in three experimental conditions, representing three tasks often used in ERP research. The aim of the present study was to make a direct comparison between the ERP components elicited by the three tasks, using the same experimental procedures. It was argued that comparisons across paradigms might lead to erroneous conclusions, because these comparisons are usually based on different studies, varying in the use of procedures, the type of stimuli and responses, and so on.
Two negative components were obtained, an early negativity (EN) and an N2 component. These components were thought to reflect an early (stimulus encoding) and a late (stimulus classification) discrimination process. The EN is related to the processing negativity observed in selective-attention tasks and the N2 is contrasted with the mismatch negativity, a cortical correlate of a preattentive mismatch process.
