Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada.
Departments of Health Sciences and Computer Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2024 Feb 16;19(1). doi: 10.1093/scan/nsae011.
Self-referential information is uniquely salient and preferentially processed even in children. The literature has used the self-referent encoding task (SRET) combined with event-related potentials (ERPs) to study self-referential processing and its associations with youth psychopathology. However, it is unclear how the ERP and behavioral indices of SRET are associated with each other, although this knowledge can promote our mechanistic understanding of this construct and its role in psychopathology. We examined this question in 115 9- to 12-year-old children, a critical period for the development of self-related concepts. By applying a multilevel modeling approach to the trial-level data of SRET, we disaggregated the between- and within-person variability and observed within-person, but not between-person, effects of the P2 and late positive potential (LPP) on behavioral responses: a larger P2 on a given trial predicted a faster response in this trial; a larger LPP on a given trial predicted a higher likelihood of endorsing the word of this trial. We provided novel evidence on how the within-person variability of the ERPs predicted the overt responses of the SRET in children. These findings inform our mechanistic knowledge of self-referential processing and shed light on a better understanding of the role of self-referential processing in the development of psychopathology.
自我参照信息具有独特的显著性和优先处理性，即使是在儿童中也是如此。该文献使用自我参照编码任务（SRET）结合事件相关电位（ERP）来研究自我参照处理及其与青年精神病理学的关联。然而，尽管这种知识可以促进我们对该结构及其在精神病理学中的作用的机制理解，但 SRET 的 ERP 和行为指标彼此之间如何相关尚不清楚。我们在 115 名 9 至 12 岁的儿童中研究了这个问题，这个年龄段是自我相关概念发展的关键时期。通过对 SRET 的试验水平数据应用多层次建模方法，我们分解了个体间和个体内的可变性，并观察到个体内而非个体间的 P2 和晚期正电位（LPP）对行为反应的影响：给定试验中的较大 P2 预测了该试验中的较快反应；给定试验中的较大 LPP 预测了该试验中单词的更高可能性。我们提供了关于 ERP 的个体内可变性如何预测 SRET 的外显反应的新证据。这些发现为我们提供了自我参照处理的机制知识，并阐明了自我参照处理在精神病理学发展中的作用。
