Effects of time of day, introversion and neuroticism on selectivity in memory and attention.

Two experiments examined the effects of time of day, introversion and neuroticism on selectivity in memory and attention. The first experiment showed that none of these factors interacted with task priority, which suggests that such variables do not produce the same changes in selectivity as do exogenous factors such as noise. In Exp. 2, colour names were read more quickly in the late afternoon than in the early morning, whereas patches of colour were named more quickly in the morning. Results from the Stroop interference condition showed that subjects classified as extraverts on the basis of Eysenck Personality Questionnaire scores were less susceptible to distraction than those scored as introverts, but the size of this effect was influenced both by time of day and by whether the subjects scored as stable or neurotic on the questionnaire.