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Cortical electrical activity as reflected by CNV and P300 was examined in paired associate learning and discriminative reaction time paradigms. The CNV amplitude following the first of a pair of trigrams showed an inverse relationship to acquisition; P300 amplitude increased monotonically. Amplitude of both waveforms was larger in the central‐parietal area than the frontal area in the paired associate learning paradigm, while in the discriminative reaction time paradigm CNV was maximal in the frontal area and P300 was maximal in the parietal area. The CNV data are interpreted as reflecting early arousal and attentional processes, whereas P300 may reflect the subject's decision about the relevance of the stimulus.

The performance of subjects (Ss) receiving contingent feedback in an eyes‐closed alpha enhancement setting was contrasted with changes in alpha of Ss receiving random feedback and no feedback. In addition, comparisons were made between: 1) binary and continuous feedback signals; 2) integrated and criterion alpha as dependent variables; and 3) eyes‐open and eyes‐closed alpha enhancement tasks. It was found that: 1) Increases in emitted occipital alpha under eyes‐closed conditions are related to contingent reinforcement. 2) Proportional feedback was most efficient in the rapid development of eyes‐closed training. 3) Larger changes in alpha were seen during eyes‐open than during eyes‐closed training. 4) Binary feedback appeared to be more efficient in increasing eyes‐open alpha response. 5) No relationships between the ability to perform the eyes‐open and eyes‐closed alpha enhancement tasks were found within Ss.