ATTENTION OR MEMORY? EFFECTS OF FAMILIARITY AND NOVELTY ON THE Nc COMPONENT OF EVENT-RELATED BRAIN POTENTIALS IN SIX-MONTH-OLD INFANTS

Abstract

This study tested predictions from attentional, expectancy, and memory accounts of the Nc and early NSW components of ERPs in six-month-old infants. Visual stimuli were presented at the extremes of the probability continuum (a repeating stimulus versus novel stimuli) and at intermediate levels of probability (.80/.20 oddball task). Probability effects were found for Nc, early NSW, and visual fixation performance but there were no differences in the ERPs or behavior to familiar or novel stimuli. The results are discussed in terms of attentional and memory based interpretations of the Nc component.

Keywords:

• infants
• event-related potentials
• attention
• recognition memory
• Nc component
• visual fixations