A discussion is presented of appropriate areas of application of pattern recognition to BEP's, minimum methodologic criteria for conducting an experiment, and BEP signal processing. Issues related to pattern classification are presented, including sample size, within-person standardization of measurements, validation of classification functions, and confidence limits on classification accuracy. A guide is presented to the tables, organized by type of classifier. A comparison is also made of the performance of several types of classifiers and present an ad hoc method for the neurophysiologic and anatomic interpretation of classification functions.