The influence of extrovert-introvert personality on children’s cortical activation with attention training systems

Abstract

Extrovert-introvert personality can take an active role in affecting people’s attitudes, tastes, and behaviors in education. However, little research has been conducted to study whether and how extrovert-introvert personality may influence children’s interaction with the attention training system. In this manuscript, we present the results of a user study that not only measured the influence of children’s extrovert-introvert personality on their preference for two typical types of attention training systems (i.e., cognitive-based and neurofeedback-based) but also employed functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate how the personality may influence cortical activation in children. Our results show that, for extroverted children, the neurofeedback attention training system elicited significantly greater activation in the prefrontal cortex and posterior parietal cortex, and was more likely to be preferred. The findings could be useful for developing more effective attention training systems based on user personality.