Event-related potentials (ERPs) are increasingly used as neurophysiological markers of perceptual and cognitive processes conveying risk for psychopathology. However, little is known about the reliability of ERP components during childhood, a time of substantial brain maturation. In the present study, we examine the early visual ERP components (P1, N170, VPP), frequently examined as indicators of attentional bias, for 110 children at kindergarten (T1) and first grade (T2). Children performed a Go/Nogo task at both time points, with exact stimuli changed to reduce habituation. All components showed increases in absolute amplitude and the P1 and VPP also showed decreases in latency. Retest reliability across time was good to very good for amplitude measures (Pearson rs ranging from .54 for N170 to .69 for P1) and low to very good for latencies (rs from .34 for P1 to .60 for N170), despite the change in visual stimuli. Although there was some evidence of moderation by sex, early visual ERP components appear to be a reliable measure of individual differences in attention processing in middle childhood. This has implications for the use of early visual ERP components as trait-like markers for individual differences in perceptual processes in developmental research.

中文翻译：

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一年级儿童视觉 ERP 组件的可靠性

事件相关电位 (ERPs) 越来越多地用作传达精神病理学风险的知觉和认知过程的神经生理学标记。然而，人们对童年时期 ERP 组件的可靠性知之甚少，这是一个大脑成熟的时期。在本研究中，我们检查了幼儿园 (T1) 和一年级 (T2) 的 110 名儿童的早期视觉 ERP 组件（P1、N170、VPP），这些组件经常作为注意力偏差的指标进行检查。孩子们在两个时间点都执行了 Go/Nogo 任务，改变了确切的刺激以减少习惯。所有组件均显示绝对幅度增加，P1 和 VPP 也显示潜伏期减少。对于幅度测量，跨时间的重测信度从好到非常好（Pearson rs 从 N170 的 0.54 到 P1 的 0.69），潜伏期从低到非常好（ P1 的r s 从 P1 的 0.34 到 N170 的 0.60），尽管视觉刺激发生了变化。尽管有一些证据表明性别有所缓和，但早期视觉 ERP 成分似乎是衡量儿童中期注意力处理个体差异的可靠指标。这对于使用早期视觉 ERP 组件作为发育研究中感知过程中个体差异的特征样标记具有重要意义。