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Forty-two volunteer subjects, mostly young adults, participated in developing a methodology for studying cognitive processes and cerebral lateral functions in relation to individual cognitive styles and age. Four test batteries were developed and refined in this study: the adult cognitive, the adult electroencephalogram (EEG), the children's cognitive, and the children's EEG. Subjects were given group cognitive tests four weeks prior to EEG testing and individual cognitive tests at the time of EEG testing. A resting EEG was obtained for ten minutes before the laterality cognitive testing. Start and stop times for each cognitive task and for the rest period were logged, and activation of right and left brain hemispheres was plotted. Input data were filtered with bandpass filters in order to evaluate relative EEG activation as indicated by the power and bandwidth of an activated hemisphere. For most subjects, there was no consistent use of one or another hemisphere for any task; in fact, there were occasional shifts of activation from one hemisphere to the other. A uniquely different subject was a 13-year-old girl who had outgrown a mild dyslexia; the usual oscillation of dominance activity during task performance was lacking, and there was a failure to shift hemisphere-dominance in relation to task. Several of the tests are appended. (Author/MV)

This paper reports three studies designed to determine whether children show selective attention and/or differential memory to slide pictures of same-sex vs. opposite-sex models and activities. Attention was measured using a feedback EEG procedure, which measured the presence or absence of alpha rhythms in the subjects' brains during presentation of slides. (An alpha rhythm reflects a relaxed mental state; the backlog or absence of alpha is interpreted as attention.) Recall, recognition, and preference for pictures were measured after presentation. In the first study, 16 children, ages 5-6 and 9-10 years, viewed slides of models performing sex-neutral tasks. Alpha presence caused a slide stimulus to come on, and alpha blocking (attention) caused it to go off. No differences were found in attention to male vs. female slides, but all children recalled significantly more male than female slides. In Study 2, 32 children (of the same ages as in Study 1) viewed different models performing sex-appropriate, sex-inappropriate, and sex-neutral tasks. Each stimulus remained on for 1 minute of viewing (no-alpha) time. There were no differences in attention to same-sex models, although all children preferred same-sex models and recalled and preferred same-sex tasks. In the third study 16 children, 9-10 years old, saw six slides from Study 2 for which viewing time was increased. Both boys and girls recalled the male model more, boys preferred male tasks, and girls preferred male and female tasks equally. For the third time there was no evidence of selective attention to same-sex models. Additional research is needed on: (1) performance constraints on sex role behavior, (2) selective rehearsal of sex role knowledge, and (3) selective exposure to sex role knowledge in the peer group rather than by research on selective attention to equally present adult models. (SB)

Averaged evoked potential (AEP) is an event-related brain response obtained by averaging the scalp electrical potentials elicited by repeated presentations of the same event. It has proven to be an accurate measure of the activity of the mature human brain when involved in a wide variety of psychological tasks. Distinct psychological processes appear to be associated with changes in the averaged evoked potential at different points in time with respect to the stimulus event. When an infrequent or unexpected stimulus is presented to the adult, a characteristic enhancement of the late positive component (LPC) of the averaged evoked cortical potential is observed. To test whether this effect obtains near birth, in two studies, low and high-probability visual stimuli were presented to twenty-nine 3-month-old infants. Electrical potentials were recorded from occipital and parietal scalp sites. A clear LPC effect was observed at both sites between 300-600 msec following the onset of the infrequent stimulus. This is the first demonstration of an LPC effect in infants, reflecting cognitive processing involving memory. A method for analyzing single trials is incorporated, demonstrating individual differences in early cognitive functioning. (Author/RH)

A study examined the role of electroencephalograms (EEGs) in vocational counseling. A total of sixth-eight subjects, fifty of whom were under twenty and seventeen of whom were between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-nine, were referred for EEGs after being diagnosed as having concentration and learning difficulties. Various members of this group of EEG candidates were given high or intermediate batteries of tests for mental alertness, arithmetic problems, reading comprehension, and vocabulary. (Not all candidates took the same tests.) Their scores were compared to those of the normal population; EEG group scores were significantly lower on all tests. The EEG group was divided into three groups, depending upon whether they had no, minor, or severe psychologically-oriented defects such as epilepsy, head injuries, or brain damage. Data analysis revealed that severity of complaint had no bearing on test results. Type of defect did, however, figure significantly in test results. It was concluded that EEG findings may be useful as an aid to counseling, provided that they are considered as an extra variable, possibly contributing additional information to the sum total of information about the individual. (MN)

College students experiencing academic difficulties are a major concern to universities. Research has indicated that many underachievers display certain identifiable electroencephalogram (EEG) characteristics. Unlike achieving students, underachievers often exhibit little EEG arousal during normally motivating tasks. These findings suggest that many underachievers may not have the same ability to concentrate as achieving students. Research in EEG biofeedback training has posited that these patterns may be altered by training. Underachieving university students (N=20) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: EEG biofeedback training, temperature biofeedback training, or no training. Students in the EEG group participated in 8 30-minute biofeedback sessions in which they received immediate feedback on changes in alpha production while studying. The temperature group was given auditory feedback of changes in finger temperature while studying during the sessions. Grade point averages (GPA) were determined before the sessions and again at the end of the semester. Results did not reach statistical significance, but consistent trends were found. The greatest change in GPA occurred in the EEG group, as did the highest percentage of students with an increase in GPA. The mean GPA of students in the "no training" group decreased during the semester. The results suggest that EEG characteristics may provide diagnostic information about reasons for underachievement. (NRB)

This paper reviews the aspects of cognitive science that relate best to using electrical and magnetic recording to understand the function of brain systems. It outlines a framework for relating cognitive activities of daily life (typing, reading) to underlying neural systems. The framework uses five levels of analysis: task, elementary operations, components facilitation and inhibition, neural systems, and cellular level. Evidence is outlined which supports the idea that component facilitations and inhibitions in performance can be systematically linked to the activity of neural populations. The evidence is in the area of spatial attention and uses results of normal and brain injured subjects as well as data from surface electroencephalography and recording of single cells during selective attention tasks. (Author)

The purpose of this study was to measure and analyze viewers' electroencephalographic reactions to motion and still pictures, and to increase knowledge on the differential impact of the two modes on brain wave production. Since beta brain wave indicates focused attention, an additional purpose was to determine whether the two media differed significantly in their potential as teaching devices as measured by the viewers' beta brain wave production. Portable biofeedback equipment was used to collect data on 60 randomly selected subjects. Treatments were either a motion picture or a slide tape presentation, alternately shown to each subject. Using a two-way analysis of variance and a post hoc analysis, no significant main effects or interactions were identified. Neither motion nor still pictures differentially affected the production of beta waves, which are necessary for focused attention and mental concentration. The experiment did demonstrate the successful use of a psychophysiological measuring device which offers the opportunity to measure an individual's reactions to instructional media unobtrusively. (LMM)

This document describes the review, analysis, and decision-making process that Trinity University, Texas, went through to develop the three-part computer network that they use to gather and analyze EEG (electroencephalography) and EKG (electrocardiogram) data. The data are gathered in the laboratory on a PDP-1124, an analog minicomputer. Once gathered, they are converted from analog-to-digital (A/D) and sent by the PDP to an IBM 370 3031. The data are then submitted to a fast fourier analysis (FFT) on the IBM computer. Once the FFT are completed, the data are accessed by an IBM PC-XT which is equipped with an IRMA network system. The PC is used in its emulation mode to access the data in the mainframe where either SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) or SAS (Statistical Analysis System) is then used to do the initial statistical analyses. When necessary, subsets of the data are transferred to the PC where other computer programs are used to analyze the data. In many instances, they are returned to the mainframe from the PC where they are submitted to multivariate statistical analysis. Finally, all of the data are stored on floppy disks which are prepared on the PC. (Author/THC)

Electrical brain activity (EEG) was recorded while 13 male and 11 female college students performed a series of recognition and memory tasks. The subjects were right-handed and between 21 and 42 years old. The selected tasks varied in cognitive load from simple recognition of a word flashed on a computer screen to relatively complex serial and word-categorization learning and recall tasks. Topographic Brain Imaging (TBI)--computer generated images of EEG activity across the cerebral cortex of the brain--coupled with discriminate analysis of EEG activity showed clear gender differences in patterns of EEG activity for each of the acquisition tasks. Gender differences were also obtained with the recall data generated from the serial learning task, which indicated that the men recalled significantly more words than did the women. The results are discussed in terms of possible differential strategy use by the sexes during the performance of the tasks. Further, the use of TBI in future cognitive and educational research is explored. Fourteen topographical maps illustrate the cerebral sites at which word detection, single category memory, and serial order memory occur for the male and female subjects. (Author/TJH)

A series of studies has investigated the possibility that human infants performing tasks exhibit something like the P300, a positive-going brain wave associated with task performance and the updating of working memory among adults. Findings indicate that, when infants have the opportunity to form a template against which to compare a previously unseen or novel stimulus, they are able to manifest their updating of this template regardless of how frequently the previously unseen or novel stimulus is presented. More importantly, infants at 4 months are capable of forming a template to a class of stimuli and then periodically updating that template when stimuli of a second class are presented. Collectively, both lines of evidence lend strong support to the notion that the observed responses are endogenous in nature. While such findings have been obtained using paradigms and procedures quite different from those used in behavioral studies, they by and large support what has been reported in the behavioral literature. Whether in fact the observed components can be considered an electrophysiological analogue of dishabituation or response to novelty remains to be seen. Nonetheless, findings overall do extend the view of infants' perceptual and cognitive abilities beyond the picture presented by behavioral evidence. Reproductions of study slides used during the presentation are appended. (RH)

To test the usefulness of single subject statistical designs for biofeedback, three experiments were conducted comparing biofeedback to meditation, and to a compound stimulus recognition task. In a statistical sense, this experimental design is best described as one experiment with two replications. The apparatus for each of the three experiments was the same: stimulus presentation and process control, data collection and storage, and data reduction and statistical analysis. The procedure for the three experiments was identical, except for counter balancing the order of treatments. Each of the three college subjects was given six weeks of meditation training, three weeks of biofeedback training, and one session of training with the compound stimulus (visual, auditory and tactile). Twenty seconds of electroencephalogram data were sampled from each of the three treatments. Analysis of variance confirms the hypothesis that biofeedback is significantly different from the other treatments and that the interaction between biofeedback and stimuli is also significant. The paper states that, in particular, the statistical difference between biofeedback and the other two treatments of this experiment is strong evidence to refute claims that biofeedback does not do anything. It is felt that the single subject approach described in this paper is very useful for biofeedback studies. Numerous tables and graphs are included. (PN)

The literature review presents an explanation of biofeedback and a critical evaluation of the research pertaining to electroencephalographic (EEG) biofeedback training for the hyperactive and/or learning disabled child. Three hypotheses are examined: whether EEG biofeedback training is efficacious; whether EEG biofeedback training is more effective than electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback training; and whether biofeedback therapy with a child affects the family system. The review supports the use of EEG biofeedback as effective, finds the greater effectiveness of EEG biofeedback over EMG biofeedback unclear, and concludes that biofeedback training has a potential for impact on the family. Briefly considered are implications for counselors in marriage and family therapy. (DB)

This paper describes the future perspectives of biocybernetic communication research applied to television, i.e., the measurement of the information impact of television on both individual human beings and groups in terms of energetic changes in the human body. A summary of the recent state of the art of biocybernetic research includes discussions of new developments and the future of this field in respect to communication processes and media production research. In particular, the promising new technologies of biotelemetry, computer tomography of the brain (CAT scans), chemospectrography, and magnetometry of the brain are discussed in the context of the methodologies of existing testing laboratories and preview houses. A summary of the implications of such research for the production of television programs, directions of future research in this area, and computer applications in the processing of data conclude this paper. A 41-item bibliography is provided. (MES)