Event-related potentials in a guessing task: the gleam in the eye effect

Abstract

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from a single subject performing a forced-choice guessing task. On each trial, ERPs were elicited by four, sequential, graphic images; 2 1/2 seconds after the last stimulus was delivered, the subject guessed which of the four images was experimentally (randomly) designated as the target. P200 had greater amplitude over the posterior scalp for stimuli which were guessed by the subject to be targets than for not-guessed stimuli. The amplitude of the P100, N100, and P300 components was unrelated to the subject's guess. A positive displacement evident in the waveforms from about 150-500 ms post-stimulus onset suggested that Slow Wave may have been partially responsible for the observed differences. These results suggest that ERPs may contain predictive information about a subject's subsequent responses in forced-choice guessing tasks. We termed this the "gleam in the eye" effect.