title: Effects of extraversion and mental arithmetic on heart-rate reactivity.
abstract: The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of extraversion and task difficulty on heart-rate reactivity. 15 extraverts and 15 introverts as identified by their scores on the Eysenck Personality Inventory completed mental arithmetic problems of three levels of difficulty. Two-way analysis of variance indicated that heart-rate reactivity increased as task difficulty increased. Also, introverts showed larger heart-rate reactivity to the task than extraverts. The present findings partially support Eysenck's physiological theory of extraversion in that introverted subjects were more aroused by the mental arithmetic task; however, the factors which produce such a difference are unclear.
authors.affiliation: Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529-0267.
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.forename: F G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Freeman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D005120:Extraversion, Psychological; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007439:Introversion, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis