The Psychophysiology of Sensation Seeking

This article summarizes studies relating the trait of sensation seeking to electrodermal and heart-rate responses and cortical evoked potential arousal. Stimulus factors of novelty, intensity, and stimulus significance are important. High sensation seekers tend to give stronger physiological orienting responses than lows to novel stimuli of moderate intensity, particularly when such stimuli are of specific interest. Lows tend to show defensive responses as defined by heart-rate acceleration. The cortical reaction of the highs tends to be augmented by intense visual or auditory stimuli, while that of the lows tends to be reduced or unresponsive to variations in stimulus intensity. Differences between psychophysiological responses of high and low sensation seekers are interpreted as reflective of different evolved biological strategies for processing novel or intense stimulation.     

Stimulation seeking and intelligence: a prospective longitudinal study

The prediction that high stimulation seeking 3-year-olds would have higher IQs by 11 years old was tested in 1,795 children on whom behavioral measures of stimulation seeking were taken at 3 years, together with cognitive ability at 11 years. High 3-year-old stimulation seekers scored 12 points higher on total IQ at age 11 compared with low stimulation seekers and also had superior scholastic and reading ability. Results replicated across independent samples and were found for all gender and ethnic groups. Effect sizes for the relationship between age 3 stimulation seeking and age 11 IQ ranged from 0.52 to 0.87. Findings appear to be the first to show a prospective link between stimulation seeking and intelligence. It is hypothesized that young stimulation seekers create for themselves an enriched environment that stimulates cognitive development.     

高感觉寻求者对危险意义声音的自动加工优势：N1、P2和MMN的证据

Zuckerman关于感觉寻求特质的唤醒理论认为,高感觉寻求者为提高其大脑唤醒,会不惜以冒险方式来寻求高强度、变化、新异和复杂的刺激经验。既往研究已经证实了高感觉寻求者对高强度的、变化的和新奇的刺激材料的认知加工偏向,但尚缺乏来自复杂的和具有危险意义刺激材料的研究证据。我们运用反转Oddball实验范式,以听觉N1、P2和MMN（Mismatch negativity）为ERPs指标,系统比较了高、低感觉寻求者对危险意义声音的自动唤醒、注意偏向和特征探测这三个方面的认知加工差异。结果发现,高感觉寻求者的N1、P2和MMN波幅均显著大于低感觉寻求者。结果表明,高感觉寻求者对危险意义声音产生了更高的唤醒水平、注意偏向和特征探测自动加工优势,这些优势可能是其偏于冒险行为的认知神经机制。     

Sex differences moderate decision making behaviour in high impulsive sensation seekers

We tested whether individuals with high levels of impulsive sensation seeking learn to choose advantageously in a specific decision-making context. One hundred twenty-eight participants (73 female) completed a neuropsychological task, the variant version of the Iowa Gambling Task (vIGT; Bechara, Tranel, & Damasio, 2000), in which individuals must select cards from decks that offer high initial losses if they are to eventually make a profit. The selection from decks of cards that led to the highest profit as the task progressed was higher in high, compared to low, impulsive sensation seekers. However, learning to choose advantageously was moderated by sex of participant. Specifically, compared to females, male high impulsive sensation seekers learned more quickly to make consistent selections from the advantageous decks despite the large immediate losses. Overall, the data support the hypothesis that insensitivity to loss due to impulsive sensation seeking can lead to financial gain.     

The Relationship Between Arousal and the Remembered Duration of Positive Events

The relation between affect and retrospective duration estimation has hardly been examined. In this paper, we contribute to filling this gap by studying the influence of arousal on the remembered duration of positive events. On the basis of the contextual change model, we expected that high‐arousal positive events would be remembered as longer compared with low‐arousal positive events. To test this hypothesis, we set up a naturalistic study in which participants were asked at the end of a pleasant amusement park ride at the local fair to rate how pleasant and aroused they felt during the ride as well as to estimate the ride's duration. Feeling more aroused during a ride was associated with longer estimates of the ride's duration. Results are discussed within the framework of retrospective time estimation models. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of sensation seeking and misattribution of arousal on attraction toward similar or dissimilar strangers

While previous research has indicated that certain situational variables can mediate the typical positive relationship between attitudinal similarity and attraction, investigations focusing on the impact of individual difference variables on this relationship have typically yielded unimpressive results. The present experiment was conducted to test the prediction that individual differences in sensation seeking do moderate this relationship. The major results showed that, as predicted, high sensation seekers were more attracted than low sensation seekers to dissimilar others, whereas low sensation seekers were more attracted than high sensation seekers to people with similar attitudes. The data also indicated that a misattribution of arousal manipulation serves to increase attraction under certain conditions. Specifically, misattribution of aversive arousal increased low sensation seekers' attraction to a dissimilar stranger and increased high sensation seekers' attraction to a similar stranger.     

Impulsivity, caffeine, and proofreading: a test of the Easterbrook hypothesis

Easterbrook's (1959) suggestion that arousal is inversely related to the range of cue utilization has been frequently cited as an explanation for the curvilinear relationship between arousal and performance. There is very little empirical support for this position, however. As a test of the Easterbrook hypothesis, 60 undergraduates who varied in their impulsivity level were given caffeine or placebo and then asked to proofread several passages. Estimates of sensitivity were calculated using signal detection techniques. It was predicted that high arousal would reduce sensitivity to interword errors, which require a broad range of cue utilization, but that the observed levels of arousal would not affect sensitivity to intraword errors, which require a minimal range of cue utilization. A significant crossover interaction between impulsivity and drug for interword errors indicated that caffeine increased the error detection rate of the (less aroused) more impulsive subjects but lowered the error detection rate of the (more aroused) less impulsive subjects. The results of this study support the suggestion that arousal has direct effects on the capacity for simultaneous information processing, independent of its effects on performance speed.     

Sensation seeking, recognition memory, and autonomic arousal

Substantial evidence shows that sensation seeking impacts memory; however, research has not examined how sensation seeking impacts automatic familiarity and conscious-controlled recollection memory systems. The present study (N = 80) examined high and low sensation seekers’ familiarity and recollection of high and low arousal images with negative valence using behavioral and skin conductance measures. Low sensation seekers had more accurate familiarity judgments to high than low arousal images, reflecting a heightened aversive motivational system. High sensation seekers showed an opposite pattern with memory enhancement for low arousal images, regardless of old-new status. The lack of any sensation seeking effects in relation to recollection judgments suggests that this personality trait is more influential on automatic than conscious controlled memory systems.     

Sexual Arousal and the Polarization of Perceived Sexual Attractiveness

It was predicted that sexual arousal would lead to polarized evaluations of the sexual attractiveness and desirability of those of the opposite sex. More specifically, sexual arousal was hypothesized to enhance the perceived sexual attractiveness of medium and highly attractive target persons but to decrease the perceived sexual attractiveness of unattractive target persons. Sexually aroused and nonaroused subject's of both sexes rated the sexual attractiveness, dating desirability, and marriage desirability of low, medium, and high attractive people of the opposite sex. As expected, sexually aroused subjects rated medium and high attractive targets as more sexually attractive but low attractive targets as less sexually attractive than did nonaroused subjects. The findings were interpreted as consistent with a two process evaluative polarization hypothesis but also discussed in terms of arousal misattribution and arousal transfer hypotheses.     

Self-regulation of stimulation for ADD-H children during reading and vigilance task performance

The present study examines the hypothesis that motor responses added into rote tasks would modulate the sensation-seeking activity and impulsive errors of hyperactive (ADD-H) children. To this purpose 22 ADD-H and 25 comparison children were administered two repetitive tasks (word decoding and an auditory vigilance task) under both an active response and a passive response condition. Findings were that the impulsive errors, talking/noise-making, and activity of ADD-H children was normalized (i.e., did not differ from comparison children) only in the high stimulation active response conditions. Behavioral improvements for ADD-H children were documented in both tasks in the active condition, but performance gains were found only in the vigilance task. The findings supported predictions derived from the optimal stimulation theory that the excessive activity and attraction to novel stimuli of ADD-H children can be channeled into appropriate instrumental motor and attention responses.We thank Anne Dwyer for her help with data collection, and Phyllis Kikendall, Sylvia Kottler, Joe Boggs, and Cheryl Wieczorek for their assistance at various stages of this project. We are also most grateful to Martha Eger and to the teachers, Sally Schnieder and Denise Oliver, of West Central Joint Special Services, to Pat Welch of the Catholic Social Services, and to the teachers of St. Ann's School and St. Philip Neri School for their cooperation with this research.     

Profiles of anger control in second-grade children: examination of self-report, observational, and physiological components

The current study used latent profile analysis (LPA) to examine anger control in 257 second-grade children (∼8 years of age). Anger was induced through losing a game and prize to a confederate who cheated. Three components of anger control were assessed: self-report of awareness of anger, observed intensity of angry facial expressions, and skin conductance reactivity. These components served as indicators in an LPA conducted to determine whether distinct groups of children who differed in anger control profiles would emerge. Five groups were found: (a) Physiology-and-Expression Controllers (high self-report, low expression, low physiological arousal), (b) Expression-Only Controllers (high self-report, low expression, high physiological arousal), (c) Non-controllers (high self-report, high expression, medium physiological arousal), (d) Non-reactive (low self-report, low expression, low physiological arousal), and (e) Non-reporters (low self-report, medium expression, medium physiological arousal). These findings are discussed in terms of implications for the assessment of children’s anger control skills and intervention programs for children’s anger management.     

Reflection-impulsivity and academic attainment in emotionally disturbed children

Sixty-five emotionally disturbed children were administered the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFF) and standard achievement tests. Significant correlations were obtained between MFF errors and achievement and Mental Age (MA) but not between MFF latencies and achievement and MA. Fifteen impulsive and fifteen reflective children, matched on MA and not differing on Chronological Age (CA), did not differ on their levels of academic achievement. However, the reflective group was found to be two grades above the impulsive group in actual grade placement. Results are discussed in terms of possible behavioral differences and their consequences for the individual.     

Emotionality as a moderator of cognitive style on the Matching Familiar Figures Test in adults

This study examined whether an emotional temperament moderated scores on the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) in adults. It was predicted that people who were high in fear would score in the impulsive and reflective quadrants of the MFFT, and those who were low in fear would score in the other two quadrants of the MFFT. Eighty-five college students completed the EASI Temperament Survey and later the MFFT. The results supported the prediction. Relative to others, subjects who scored in the impulsive and reflective quadrants of the MFFT also scored significantly higher on the Fear subscale of the EASI Temperament Survey. Implications for the role of fear in interpreting scores on the MFFT were drawn.     

Emotionality as a Moderator of Cognitive Style on the Matching Familiar Figures Test in Adults

This study examined whether an emotional temperament moderated scores on the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) in adults. It was predicted that people who were high in fear would score in the impulsive and reflective quadrants of the MFFT, and those who were low in fear would score in the other two quadrants of the MFFT. Eighty-five college students completed the EASI Temperament Survey and later the MFFT. The results supported the prediction. Relative to others, subjects who scored in the impulsive and reflective quadrants of the MFFT also scored significantly higher on the Fear subscale of the EASI Temperament Survey. Implications for the role of fear in interpreting scores on the MFFT were drawn.     

Cognitive style and moral judgement in mentally handicapped and non-handicapped children of equal mental age*

Forty-seven mentally handicapped and 47 non-handicapped children matched on mental age were assessed with Kagan's Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) and a Piagetian measure designed to elicit moral judgements. No significant differences were observed in the error and latency scores between the two groups nor in the proportion of reflective, impulsive, fast/accurate or slow/inaccurate individuals. The results also indicated that the subjects did not differ in their level of moral judgement; although reflectives made moral judgements on the basis of intention rather than consequence. Moral judgement was not significantly correlated with performance on the MFFT. The findings were interpreted as being consistent with Zigler's developmental concept of cultural-familial retardation and suggesting that the ability to solve moral dilemmas appears to involve cognitive capacities.     

The link between sensation seeking and aggression: a meta-analytic review

Substantial empirical evidence supports low resting heart rate (HR) as the best replicated psychophysiological correlate of aggression [Ortiz and Raine, 2004]; however, researchers continue to debate the explanatory mechanisms of the phenomenon. Sensation seeking has been proposed as a possible outcome of low resting HR that may lead to aggressive tendencies but findings have been inconsistent in terms of showing a relationship between sensation seeking and aggression. A meta-analysis was conducted on 43 independent effect sizes, from studies with a total of 32,217 participants, to test the hypothesis that sensation seeking would be positively related to aggression across studies. A significant overall effect size was found (d = .1935, P<.001), supporting the hypothesis. Moderator analyses revealed that the relationship differed based on participant and methodological characteristics, such as participant age and the nature of the aggression measurement; however, these conclusions are limited by the uneven number of studies in many of the moderator classes. Overall, the findings provide support for higher levels of aggression in high sensation seekers and have theoretical implications for arousal theory. Further research on the links between arousal, sensation seeking and aggression can inform clinicians about potential interventions.     

The effect of reinforcement for global or analytic strategies on the performance of reflective and impulsive children

Second and sixth grade impulsive and reflective children were administered a conceptual style task with a modification that children were reinforced specifically for either global or analytic processing. Results indicated that both reflectives and impulsives were capable of offering either a global or analytic hypothesis under appropriate reinforcement. Results were interpreted as indicating the relevance of motivational factors to reflection/impulsivity and cognitive style.     

Classroom behavior of reflective and impulsive children

Seventy-nine children, nine or eleven years old, classified as reflective or impulsive by the Matching Familiar Figures (MFF) test, were observed in public school classrooms. A total of 15 behavioral categories were selected to capture activities often labeled “reflective” or “impulsive” in the literature. Children were observed in each of three classroom settings—Individual Work, Large Group instruction, and Small Group instruction. Thirty minutes of observational data on each child revealed substantial differences in the behavior of older and younger children and across the three settings. By contrast, there was only a minor difference in the behavior of reflective and impulsive children. These results suggest that the concept of reflection-impulsivity, as operationalized by the MFF, should be limited to tasks that involve response uncertainty, and should not be used to imply differences in the typical classroom behavior of children classified as reflective or impulsive by the MFF.     

Sensation seeking and selective attention: focused and divided attention on a dichotic listening task.

Differences in selective attention as a function of sensation seeking, extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism were examined in 108 undergraduates using a dichotic listening task. Dependent measures included shadowing performance, reaction times to a secondary light task, target detection, and recall. The results suggested that high sensation seekers have better focused attention than low sensation seekers, and these effects were strongest on the 1st trials of the shadowing tasks. High sensation seekers did not attend differently than low sensation seekers to words related to their interests (sexual, violent, or drug related). Extraversion was associated with greater recall of these kinds of words, although there were no overall differences in selective attention as a function of Eysenck's dimensions. The role of arousal in personality and attention is discussed, particularly in regard to the response of sensation seekers to task novelty.     

Change seeking and shock choices

According to sensation-seeking theory, people have characteristic optimal levels of arousal and are motivated to vary stimulus input to reach that level. Self-report studies suggest that seeking changes in stimulation may be one way people control their level of stimulation. The present study tested this hypothesis with a controlled laboratory experiment, using the shock choice procedure. Subjects were asked to choose between a 3-s shock to the wrist immediately or a 1-s shock to the wrist delayed 30 s. “Change seeking” was measured as the number of changes, from trial to trial, between immediate and delayed choices. In order to test change seeking at two levels of arousal, half the subjects were relaxed before making shock choices and half were not. As predicted, subjects who scored high on two subscales of sensation seeking, Boredom Susceptibility and Experience Seeking, made more shock-choice changes during the relaxed condition than subjects who scored low on these two subscales.