Extraversion and the EEG: II. A test of Gale's hypothesis

The study sought to test A. Gale's hypothesis that only under moderately arousing conditions will introverts be shown to differ from extraverts in EEG defined arousal. Alpha activity was recorded for 45 subjects under each of six conditions, and extravert and introvert groups formed on the basis of subject's score on the E scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). Contrary to the hypothesis, extraverts showed more prestimulus alpha activity than introverts under all conditions except opening and closing eyes on instruction where the reverse was the case. It is argued that the failure to confirm the hypothesis is not due to faults in design or execution of the study, and that future research may profit more from ignoring interactions of the sort demonstrated.