title: Relation of frontal N100 to psychopathy-related differences in selective attention.
abstract: Research indicates that psychopathy may be characterized by early attentional abnormalities that undermine the processing of peripheral information during goal-directed activity (Baskin-Sommers & Newman, 2012). Past work has found that psychopathic individuals show reduced interference on the Box Stroop task, in which color names are spatially separated from (i.e., peripheral to) colored stimuli (Hiatt, Schmitt, & Newman, 2004). The present study sought to replicate and extend these findings. A priori predictions were that psychopathy scores would be inversely related to interference and that psychopathy-related differences in Box Stroop conflict processing would emerge at an early stage as measured by event-related potentials (ERP). Results supported both hypotheses. Moreover, the association between the early attention-related component (N100) and interference was moderated by level of psychopathy. These findings suggest that psychopathic individuals have less coordinated responses to conflict than healthy individuals, a conjecture that has implications for information integration and self-regulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, USA. Electronic address: bencic@wisc.edu.
authors.forename: Rachel K Bencic
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Yale University, USA.
authors.forename: Arielle R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Baskin-Sommers
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Newman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attention; ERP; Interference; N100; Psychopathy