• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.59-66
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• 2002

This study was proposed as an exploratory study for understanding the biological bases and structures of three personality models: Eysenck's PEN model, Gray's BIS/BAS model, and Costa & McCrae's Five Factor Model, which was chosen as the major descriptive model regardless of its biological bases. Besides, Eysenck's impulsivity scale, IVE, was added to demonstrate the relationship of P and impulsivity. Concerning personality, most previous reports have explored the relationships between P300 and the introversion-extraversion of Eysenck's theory because of its putative biological bases. In the present study, forty-eight undergraduate took four personality batteries (ERQ-R, NEO-Pl-R, BIS/BAS, and IVE). Two types of oddball tasks including different stimulus duration were used to induce ERPs (50ms for task 1, 300ms for task 2). Distributional topographies of correlation coefficients with personality traits and ERP components were drawn, and considered for the consistent interpretation of the personality model structures. Even though all equivalences for extraversion of personality batteries showed similarities for their intra-correlation, their correlations with P3 amplitudes were dissociate. Eysenck's E might not be the proper psychometric measure for elucidating its biological bases. The present study supported the negative relationship of P3 amplitude and extraversion, which is the consensus of previous studies. Neuroticism and Psychoticism showed correlations with the earlier sensory processing components such as N1 and P2. This result might explain the reason why most of studies have failed to find biological connections relating them. Interaction between gender and personality traits should be considered for the interpretation of correlations. Two types of auditory stimulus duration had different sensitivity to personality traits.