ERP correlates of error monitoring in 10-year olds are related to socialization

Research suggests that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) generates the error-related negativity (ERN or Ne), an event-related potential component that reflects response monitoring and is influenced by individual differences in personality. The present study examined the relation between personality as indexed by the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Extraversion, Neuroticism, Psychoticism, and Lie scale) and the ERN in 10-year-old children. High scores on the Psychoticism and low scores on the Lie scale, which are taken to reflect low socialization in children, were associated with smaller ERNs. Results lend support to previous studies finding this association in adults. We argue that the ERN may be an indirect measure of ACC activity and is affected by one's concern with task performance. The results of the present study extend findings previously reported in adults to a population of normally developing children and show that similar mechanisms of performance monitoring may underlie individual differences in personality across development.