Novel approaches to the problem of latency jitter.

This paper deals with the issue of variable latencies of single potentials. A new method is proposed for obtaining estimates of single latency shifts, which allows furthermore a statistical test on the presence of latency jitter. In the Appendix, we give a precise description of the algorithmic procedure in order to allow an implementation of the new approach. A simulation study using real data from 41 children demonstrated that the procedure performed much better than the familiar Woody algorithm which produced highly unstable estimates. The new statistical test on presence of latency jitter was validated and also evaluated using simulations. The test was specifically sensitive to latency jitter but not to other types of variation of single potentials. In an application of real flashevoked potentials evidence for the presence of variable latencies was found.