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Updated: May 17, 2026
Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques
Published on: June 30, 2020
The learning-oddball paradigm: data of 24 separate individuals illustrate its potential usefulness as a new clinical
Marijtje L A Jongsma1, Clementina M van Rijn, Niels J H M Gerrits
1Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, DCC, Radboud University Nijmegen, Montessorilaan 3, 6525 HR Nijmegen, The Netherlands. m.jongsma@donders.ru.nl
Objective:
In a previous article reporting group data, we presented event-related potentials (ERPs), which were evoked by randomly presented target stimuli in a 'learning-oddball' task. These ERPs contained a large N2-P3 complex that decreased and a Contingent Negative Variation (CNV) that increased when the targets were presented in a regular fashion. Using the learning-oddball paradigm, the aim of the present paper was to determine ERP effects of introducing regularity in individual participants.
Methods:
The data from the previous study were re-analyzed at the level of the individual participant, extracting individual sigmoid curves by means of wavelet-denoising and focusing on RTs, and CNV, N2, and P3 ERP components.
Results:
Most participants displayed significant sigmoid curves with respect to the P3 component (22 of the 24 participants - 22/24), the N2 component (20/24), and/or the CNV (19/24) component. In contrast, reaction times (RTs) appeared less sensitive to incidental learning (15/24). Modest correlations were observed between RTs and N2 component amplitudes.
Conclusions:
It is possible to extract significant ERP changes to introducing regularity in individual participants.
Significance:
Tracking ERP changes within the learning-oddball paradigm might be a useful tool to assess pattern detection capacities in individual patients.
