It would seem difficult to doubt the truth of the proposition that man is a biosocial animal (Eysenck, 1980b). There is no longer any doubt about the strong determination of individual differences in personality by genetic factors (Eaves, Eysenck, & Martin, 1989), and much progress has been made in the study of physiological, neurological, and biochemical-hormonal factors in mediating this influence (Eysenck, 1981; Zucker-man, Ballenger, & Post, 1984; Stelmack, 1981). It has been suggested that the biological aspects of personality should be identified with the concept of temperament (Strelau, 1983) and this may prove an acceptable use, although the dictionary defines the term as equivalent to personality (“the characteristic way an individual behaves, especially towards other people”). What is not in doubt is the importance of considering individual differences as an important part of scientific psychology (Eysenck, 1984) and, indeed, it has been fundamental for any proper understanding of human behavior (Eysenck, 1983). Personality is more than superficial behavioral characteristics, easily acquired and easily abandoned; it is an indispensable part of any meaningful scientific investigation in educational, industrial, clinical, social or experimental psychology (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985).

Dimensions of Personality

The personality dimensions of extraversion and neuroticism, which are defined at the descriptive level of Eysenck’s system, have been linked to constructs at an explanatory level which are common to hypothetical deductive models in perception, learning, motivation, memory and emotion. As a comprehensive personality system, it is commendable for the attempt to relate personability dimensions to the biological foundations of individual differences in those fundamental psychological processes. The excitation-inhibition hypothesis which was proposed by Eysenck in 1957 referred in particular to the hypothetical constructs of excitation and inhibition which were drawn from those concepts as they were employed by Pavlov (1927) and Hull (1943). Excitation and inhibition were conceived as hypothetical neural processes upon which the acquisition and extinction of behaviour depended. If introverts were characterized by higher levels of cortical excitability and lower levels of cortical inhibition than extraverts, they would be expected to display enhanced sensitivity and efficiency in the processing of sensory stimulation and in conditioning. It was also proposed that such constitutional dispositions may account for individual differences in the social and psychiatric behaviour of introverts and extraverts. The excitation-inhibition hypothesis provoked a good deal of controversy, much of it still unresolved, but the proposal served an important discipline-bridging function and provided a useful and necessary framework for the exploration of the foundations of individual differences in extraversion and neuroticism.

The Psychophysiology of Extraversion and Neuroticism

Extraversion and electrodermal activity: arousability and the inverted-U

Inconsistent findings in the study of mood-related effects on memory are discussed in terms of the effects of arousal on cognitive processes. Manipulations used in studies of mood and memory typically affect arousal as well as affective valence. Although mood-related effects on memory are often interpreted in terms of valence, a consideration of arousal-mediated effects rarely occurs. In the motivation and performance literature, however, variations in arousal have been shown to interact with retention interval to affect immediate and delayed recall. Arousal is hypothesised to hinder some aspect of short-term memory but facilitate both the speed of processing and some aspect of storage for long-term retrieval. The construct of arousal is also used more generally to organise the effects of stable individual differences in personality and a variety of motivational manipulations on cognitive performance. The implications of these effects of arousal for the pattern of inconsistent findings in the stu...

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Individual Differences and Arousal: Implications for the Study of Mood and Memory

Initial research on individual differences in personality centered on the development of questionnaires. These were the only available tools for the description and prediction of behavior. Later, trait models were developed that attempted to move from personality description to a multilevel causal form of explanation. As noted by Gale & Eysenck (1992), psychometric methods have achieved good levels of predictive validity for psychologically and socially important human behaviors. This success in describing personality bolstered attempts to identify the biological substrate of psychometric derived indices of individual variation. Scores on psychometric instruments are examined using a variety of procedures that record bioelectrical signals. These include procedures to monitor autonomic nervous system activity, such as electrodermal and cardiac recordings, and cortical activity, with electroencephalographic and event-related potential procedures. Investigations of elementary physiological events in normal thinking, feeling, and interacting individuals are now feasible. The techniques provide windows through which psychological processes and neurological generators of bioelectric activity can be observed unobtrusively (see, e.g. the recent Handbook of Psychophysiology b Cacioppo et al. 2000). A number of different psychophysiological responses and methods are applied to verify hypotheses and for further exploration of the biological bases of temperament and personality dimensions, notably extraversion (E), neuroticism (N) and sensation seeking (SS). The research on biological and psychophysiological determinants of temperament and personality emerged from specific hypotheses proposed by Pavlov and Eysenck in their classic experimental research on personality (Eysenck 1963, 1967; Nebylitsyn & Gray 1972; Strelau 1983). This chapter begins with a brief outline of the main hypotheses that were explored using psychophysiological methods to study individual differences in personality, with specific emphasis on the extraversion trait. Subsequently, the most consistent psychophysiological results will be described and discussed.

On the Psychophysiology of Extraversion

Extraversion and the orienting reaction habituation rate to visual stimuli

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Extraversion and the orienting reaction habituation rate to visual stimuli