Meta-analysis and psychophysiology: A tutorial using depression and action-monitoring event-related potentials

- A meta-analysis tutorial is provided.
- The concepts are demonstrated using the relationship between depression and the ERN/FN.
- The depression/ERN relationship is contaminated by publication bias.
- The depression/FN relationship is dependent on the use of gambling/guessing tasks.

Meta-analyses are regularly used to quantitatively integrate the findings of a field, assess the consistency of an effect and make decisions based on extant research. The current article presents an overview and step-by-step tutorial of meta-analysis aimed at psychophysiological researchers. We also describe best-practices and steps that researchers can take to facilitate future meta-analysis in their sub-discipline. Lastly, we illustrate each of the steps by presenting a novel meta-analysis on the relationship between depression and action-monitoring event-related potentials - the error-related negativity (ERN) and the feedback negativity (FN). This meta-analysis found that the literature on depression and the ERN is contaminated by publication bias. With respect to the FN, the meta-analysis found that depression does predict the magnitude of the FN; however, this effect was dependent on the type of task used by the study.