Effects of gender and personality on the Conners Continuous Performance Test

Abstract

A total of 91 university community participants were evaluated on the five personality factors (NEO–Five Factor Inventory; NEO-FFI) and with the Conners Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Gender differences for the Conners CPT variables were found such that the men were faster and less variable in their reaction times than the women, and the women were more sensitive in terms of signal detection and conservative in their responses than the men, consistent with the data reported by Conners, Epstein, Angold, and Klaric (2003) for a normative sample of 9–18 year olds. Interesting relationships between personality factors and the CPT variables were seen for the male and female groups, especially in terms of response style and vigilance. For the combined genders, higher vigilance was associated with higher neuroticism, lower extraversion, and lower agreeableness. Lower conscientiousness was associated with a more risk-taking/less conservative response bias. The men were more vigilant than the women, and for the men, this higher vigilance was related to lower conscientiousness, with trends for relationships with greater neuroticism and lower agreeableness. In the women, higher vigilance was related to lower extraversion, consistent with other studies. Men who were more extraverted also tended to be less conservative/more risk taking in their response style. A more risk-taking response style in women was associated with higher neuroticism, higher openness, and lower conscientiousness. The findings are interpreted in terms of underlying biological bases of behavior.