Extraversion, neuroticism, and face-name learning

Previous research has attempted to relate personality traits to paired-associate learning. We tested name recall as a function of extraversion and neuroticism (as assessed by the Eysenck Personality Inventory) and task difficulty. Face photographs were paired with one of three levels of information: names only (an easy task); names and occupations; or names, occupations, and interests (a difficult task). On the easy and difficult tasks, extraverted subjects recalled more names than did subjects scoring at the median or below on that trait. Contrary to expectations, subjects scoring high on neuroticism recalled more names than did subjects scoring low on that trait. Neither trait was significantly related to recall on the moderately difficult task. There was no interaction between traits for name recall, but there was for interests: Neurotic introverts were significantly impaired at recalling interests, whereas the other subjects recalled interests better than names. These findings thus differ from those of paired-associate learning tasks using words and nonsense syllables.