These materials were created for our free online course, Introduction to ERPs. This course was designed for students who want to learn the basics of ERPs. We anticipate that it will take most students 3-5 hours to complete.
This page provides the individual course components so you can use them in your own courses, whether you have an entire course devoted to ERPs, a single day focused on ERPs, or something in between. The materials have a Creative Commons CC BY license so that you can use them in any way you want. You just need to provide an attribution (“by Steven J. Luck, https://erpinfo.org/”). The versions provided here don’t have the ERP Boot Camp “branding” that you’ll see in our full online course.
The course consists primarily of a series of 5-minute lecture videos hosted on YouTube (including closed captioning for ADA compliance). You can simply use the YouTube links below. Please contact us if you need the original .mp4 files or the ScreenFlow source files (which would allow you to edit the videos, add your own content, etc.). We can also provide you with transcripts for the videos.
The videos are organized into “chapters,” each of which contains 4-8 videos. You can use any or all of the videos. If you’re going to use more than a few, we recommend that you keep them in their current order. The first five chapters focus on what ERPs are and how they’re used, and the last three chapters focus on the methodological information that students need to learn so that they can read, understand, and critically evaluate ERP papers and/or start working in an ERP lab.
We’ve also provided a PDF with lecture notes for each chapter. Please contact us if you need the original PowerPoint files.
Each lecture video is followed by 1-2 quiz questions (which are very important for keeping the students engaged and maximizing their understanding and retention of the materials). Please contact us if you’d like access to the quiz questions and answers (which we do not make available online so that students cannot find them).
If you use the Canvas learning management system, we have provided the videos and quiz questions in a format that you can import with a few keystrokes. Please contact us to request access this package.
For any other questions, send an email to erpbootcamp@gmail.com.
Click here for a YouTube playlist that contains all the videos. The following sections provide descriptions and links for the individual videos.
Chapter 1- Introduction
At present, we provide only one video for this chapter, which explains that you are using lecture videos created by a professor at a different university and provides a brief overview of what ERPs are and how they are useful. We may be able to create a custom version of this video to make it clear how the videos fit into your course. Please contact us at erpbootcamp@gmail.com for details.
YouTube Links:
Chapter 1.1- Overview
Lecture notes: Chapter 1 Lecture Notes.pdf
Chapter 2- ERP Basics
Chapter 2 covers the basics of ERPs, including EEG and creating averaged ERPs. It also includes an example of a published N170 study so the students can see how ERPs are actually used to answer important questions about the mind and brain.
YouTube Links:
Chapter 2.1. EEG and Frequency bands
Chapter 2.2. Averaging, including Basic Laboratory Setup, flow of info through the brain, and response-locked averaging
Chapter 2.3. Detailed Example: N170 and perceptual experience
Chapter 2.4. SNR and number of trials
Chapter 2.5. Sources of noise (EEG, biological artifacts, non-biological artifacts); what is noise?
Chapter 2.6. Conventions: 10/20 system and plotting (including grand averages and negative-up)
Lecture notes: Chapter 2 Lecture Notes.pdf
Chapter 3- ERP Components
Chapter 3 describes what we mean by “ERP component” (including a brief description of how ERPs are generated), how components are named, and some of the most common or interesting ERP components.
YouTube Links:
Chapter 3.1. What is an ERP component? Brief overview of generation, propagation, summation at electrodes
Chapter 3.2. Component naming conventions
Chapter 3.3. Sensory components: C1, P1, N1, Auditory, MMN
Chapter 3.4. Attention (N2pc, including threat)
Chapter 3.5. Working Memory (CDA and WM face decoding)
Chapter 3.6. Language (N400)
Chapter 3.7. Categorization and Emotion (P3, LPP)
Lecture notes: Chapter 3 Lecture Notes.pdf
Chapter 4- Generation and Propagation of ERPs
Chapter 4 focuses on how ERPs are generated in the brain and propagated to the surface of the scalp, where we can record them with our electrodes. We also discuss the "inverse problem," the problem of whether and how we can estimate the location and waveform of the generator sources from the voltages recorded on the scalp. Finally, we discuss how "difference waves" can be used to isolate ERP components, and we provide an example of how difference waves were used to examine the development of face processing from early childhood through adulthood (in this paper). Note that sections 4.3 and 4.4 get into a little bit of math but can be skipped for courses that are not technical.
YouTube Links:
Chapter 4.1. From Source to Scalp: The forward problem
Chapter 4.2. From Scalp to Source: Basics of the inverse problem + MEG
Chapter 4.3. Source localization approaches
Chapter 4.4. Challenges in source localization
Chapter 4.5. Difference waves
Chapter 4.6. Example of difference waves (N170 development)
Lecture notes: Chapter 4 Lecture Notes.pdf
Chapter 5- What are ERPs Good For?
Chapter 5 focuses on the kinds of questions that ERPs are well suited for asking. We discuss why it's important that ERPs have excellent temporal resolution and how this differs from behavioral measures with millisecond-level temporal resolution. We then discuss ERP latencies and how the use of difference waves can allow us to draw strong conclusions about the timing of specific neural processes. This includes a detailed discussion of a published study of P3 latency in schizophrenia.
YouTube Links:
Chapter 5.1. Continuous high temporal resolution: The Good Stuff
Chapter 5.2. ERP Latencies: P3
Chapter 5.3. ERP Latencies: N2pc and LRP
Chapter 5.4. Example: P3 Latency in Schizophrenia
Lecture notes: Chapter 5 Lecture Notes.pdf
Chapter 6- Key Background Issues
Chapter 5 covers several key background issues that are important for understanding how ERPs are processed, including Fourier analysis, filtering, time-frequency analysis, and baseline correction. It includes a detailed discussion of a published study that used time-frequency analysis to examine how alpha-band EEG oscillations are related to the focusing of attention.
YouTube Links:
Chapter 6.1. Fourier Analysis & Fundamental Principle #1
Chapter 6.2. Filtering
Chapter 6.3. Fundamental Principle #2
Chapter 6.4. Time-frequency analysis
Chapter 6.5. Fundamental Principle #1 in Time-Frequency Analysis
Chapter 6.6. Time-frequency Example
Chapter 6.7. Epoching and Baseline correction
Chapter 6.8. Overlap
Lecture notes: Chapter 6 Lecture Notes.pdf
Chapter 7- ERP Recording and Analysis Methods
Chapter 7 goes through the Methods and Results section of a published paper to explain the basic recording and analysis steps of a typical ERP experiment. After completing this chapter, students should be able to read the Methods and Results section of a basic ERP paper.
YouTube Links:
Chapter 7.1. Participants, Stimuli, & Task
Chapter 7.2. Recording
Chapter 7.3. Active, Reference, & Ground
Chapter 7.4. Choosing a Reference Location
Chapter 7.5. Common Artifacts
Chapter 7.6. Artifact Rejection and Correction
Chapter 7.7. Summary of EEG/ERP Processing Steps
Chapter 7.8. Choosing Time Windows and Electrode Sites
Lecture notes: Chapter 7 Lecture Notes.pdf
Chapter 8- How to Evaluate an ERP Study
Chapter 8 provides suggestions about how to evaluate an ERP study, focusing on 10 common problems in ERP studies. After completing this chapter, students should be able to critically evaluate ERP papers.
We also provide a 2-page summary [PDF, Word] that students can use when they read ERP papers.
YouTube Links:
Chapter 8.1. Noisy data
Chapter 8.2. Small Effects and Replication
Chapter 8.3. Baseline problems and artifacts
Chapter 8.4. Analysis problems
Chapter 8.5. Design & Interpretation Problems, Part 1
Chapter 8.6. Design & Interpretation Problems, Part 2
Lecture notes: Chapter 8 Lecture Notes.pdf