Visual selective attention and personality: An experimental verification of three models of extraversion

The authors examine the relationships between basic personality dimensions, assessed with Eysenck's EPQ-R and the efficiency of visual selective attention. Level of intelligence was also taken into account as a separate dimension of individual differences. Three theoretical models of the relationships between attention and individual differences were formulated: the arousal model, the impulsivity model and the resource availability model. Predictions based on these models were verified in three experiments (N = 110, N = 80 and N = 80). A computerized test of visual selective attention, developed in its difficult and easy versions, was applied in each experiment in order to assess selectivity, distraction susceptibility, sustained attention and dual task performance. Regarding extraversion/introversion, the arousal model appeared best suited to account for the results obtained in three experiments. As to intelligence, the resource availability model proved its appropriateness, although the concept of neural efficiency was discussed, too. None of the models was possible to employ concerning neuroticism and psychoticism, although the relevant data are reported for the sake of completeness. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.