title: Personality and extinction of a conditioned electrodermal response.
abstract: This study investigated personality differences in extinction of a conditioned EDR. The subjects were selected on the basis of EPI neuroticism and impulsivity scores. Subjects with scores on, or near, the sample means were excluded. Fifty-one subjects underwent an aversive discrimination conditioning procedure. The reinforcement was 75 per cent, the UCS was 100 dB white noise for 1 sec, while the CS was one of five different coloured lights of 2 sec duration. The UCS was presented at CS termination. Subjects were informed of the CS--UCS contingency before the acquisition phase and informed of the onset of the extinction phase. Subjects high on impulsivity showed significantly (P less than 0.01) greater extinction of the discrimination than subjects low on impulsivity.
mesh_terms: D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D010551:Personality