A psychometric perspective on psychophysiological measures.

Psychophysiological measures are a useful complement to self-report or behavioral measures because they can assess fundamentally different processes or more sensitively assess the same processes as those targeted by other types of measures. To be maximally beneficial, psychophysiological measures must meet the psychometric criteria that are commonly applied to self-report or behavioral measures. Empirical findings to date indicate that the temporal stability of psychophysiological measures thought to assess individual differences is variable and that researchers should devote more attention to systematic assessment of reliability, stability, and generalizability. The most critical psychometric issue involves construct validity and the establishment of linkages between psychophysiological measures and specific psychological processes. Several methodological and conceptual reasons for the difficulties that researchers encounter in the attempt to establish such linkages are discussed. Methodological guidelines for maximizing the reliability, temporal stability, and psychological meaningfulness of psychophysiological measures are proposed.