Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T14:18:27.647Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The role of psychophysiology in clinical assessment: ERPs in the evaluation of memory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2002

JOHN J.B. ALLEN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Get access

Abstract

Psychophysiological measures hold great potential for informing clinical assessments. The challenge, before such measures can be widely used, is to develop test procedures and analysis strategies that allow for statistically reliable and valid decisions to be made for any particular examinee, despite large individual differences in psychophysiological responding. Focusing on the evaluation of memory in clinical, criminal, and experimental contexts, this paper reviews the rationale for and development of ERP-based memory assessment procedures, with a focus on methods that allow for statistically supported decisions to be made in the case of a single examinee. The application of one such procedure to the study of amnesia in Dissociative Identity Disorder is highlighted. To facilitate the development of other psychophysiological assessment tools, psychophysiological researchers are encouraged to report the sensitivity and specificity of their measures where possible.

Type
EARLY CAREER AWARD
Copyright
© 2002 Society for Psychophysiological Research

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)