Augmenting–reducing paradox lost? A test of Davis et al.'s (1983) hypothesis

Fast reducers, slow augmenters: a psychophysiological analysis of temperament-related differences in reaction time

“…This scale was constructed according to a criterion of pain tolerance and has proven valid and reliable in a number of studies (for a review see Barnes, 1985). Reducers were found to be more pain tolerant than augmenters (Vando, 1974), to turn on a radio louder than augmenters , to consume more frequently psychoactive drugs than augmenters (Vulcano et al, 1990), and to be psychophysiologically and subjectively less reactive to intense auditory stimulation than augmenters (Davis, et al, 1984;Schwerdtfeger and Baltissen, 2002). In accordance with Petrie's theory these results suggest that reducers dampen down incoming stimuli and augmenters amplify them.…”

“…The aim of this study was to deduce previously reported RT differences between augmenters and reducers (Schwerdtfeger and Baltissen, 2002) to particular information processing stages according to a simple information processing model (consisting of stimulus encoding and motor preparation). Also, a pain tolerance test was applied to verify our questionnaire-derived classification in either augmenters or reducers.…”

“…Therefore, the aim of the present experiment was to utilize the findings of extraversion-introversion for research on augmenting-reducing. Schwerdtfeger and Baltissen (2002) found reducers to respond faster than augmenters in a SRT. Now, we investigated whether this behavioural difference would have its counterparts in earlier processing stages like suggested by extraversion studies.…”

“…Actually, little attention in augmenting-reducing research has been spent on the latter issue. Recently, Schwerdtfeger and Baltissen (2002) found reducers to respond faster than augmenters in a simple reaction time task (SRT). This was an explorative finding, which had never been reported before in studies on augmenting-reducing .…”

“…Inferences from such studies to Petriestyle augmenting-reducing, however, are subjected to caution, since maximum stimulus intensity, intensity range, sensory modality, and scalp location can substantially alter the resulting EP-curves and hence might affect associations between both measures (e.g. Schwerdtfeger and Baltissen, 2002). however, are a widely discussed topic in temperament research in general (e.g.…”