Behavioural and ERP evidence of the self-advantage of online self-relevant information

The present study examined whether individuals experienced the same cognitive advantage for online self-relevant information (nickname) as that experienced for information encountered in real life (real name) through two experiments at both the behavioural and neural levels (event-related potential, ERP). The results indicated that individuals showed the same cognitive advantage for nicknames and real names. At the behavioural level, a nickname was detected as quickly as the real name, and both were detected faster than a famous name; at the neural level, the P300 potential elicited by one’s nickname was similar to that elicited by one’s real name, and both the P300 amplitudes and latencies were larger and more prolonged than those elicited by other name stimuli. These results not only confirmed the cognitive advantage for one’s own nickname and indicated that this self-advantage can be extended to online information, but also indicated that the virtual self could be integrated into the self and further expanded individuals’ self-concept.