Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2026
The Attentional Set Shifting Task: A Measure of Cognitive Flexibility in Mice
Published on: February 4, 2015
Individual differences in mismatch negativity measures of involuntary attention shift
T Sasaki1, K B Campbell, P Gordon Bazana
1School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Ottawa, Canada. tosasaki@infoaomori.ne.jp
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to compare the automatic detection of deviance in introverts and extraverts. Event-related potentials were recorded to standard and deviant stimuli. These were presented either rapidly or slowly. Stimuli that are presented slowly may intrude into consciousness.
Methods:
Twenty subjects were tested and divided into introverted and extraverted groups. A 500 Hz standard stimulus was presented on 85% of trials. On the remaining 15% of trials, a 750 Hz deviant was presented. In separate conditions, stimuli were presented rapidly (every 500 ms) or slowly (every 1500 ms). Subjects ignored the stimuli while reading.
Results:
The deviant stimulus elicited a mismatch negativity (MMN) in both conditions. No inter-group differences in the MMN emerged when a rapid rate of presentation was employed. When a slower rate was employed, a late negativity was significantly larger for the extraverted than the introverted group. This was followed by a late positive wave.
Conclusion:
The late negative-positive complex is thought to reflect intrusiveness. It would therefore appear that extraverts are more distractible than introverts when stimuli are presented slowly.
