title: Test-retest reliability of infant event related potentials evoked by faces.
abstract: Reliable measures are required to draw meaningful conclusions regarding developmental changes in longitudinal studies. Little is known, however, about the test-retest reliability of face-sensitive event related potentials (ERPs), a frequently used neural measure in infants. The aim of the current study is to investigate the test-retest reliability of ERPs typically evoked by faces in 9-10 month-old infants. The infants (N=31) were presented with neutral, fearful and happy faces that contained only the lower or higher spatial frequency information. They were tested twice within two weeks. The present results show that the test-retest reliability of the face-sensitive ERP components is moderate (P400 and Nc) to substantial (N290). However, there is low test-retest reliability for the effects of the specific experimental manipulations (i.e. emotion and spatial frequency) on the face-sensitive ERPs. To conclude, in infants the face-sensitive ERP components (i.e. N290, P400 and Nc) show adequate test-retest reliability, but not the effects of emotion and spatial frequency on these ERP components. We propose that further research focuses on investigating elements that might increase the test-retest reliability, as adequate test-retest reliability is necessary to draw meaningful conclusions on individual developmental trajectories of the face-sensitive ERPs in infants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Developmental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: n.m.munsters@gmail.com.
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Munsters
authors.affiliation: Educational Development & Training, Centre for Teaching and Learning, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: van Ravenswaaij
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Developmental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: van den Boomen
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Developmental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kemner
mesh_terms: D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000592:standards*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000066499:Facial Recognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012938:Social Perception
keywords: Event Related Potentials; Faces; Infants; Test-retest reliability