Consistent with the suggestion that impulsivity is related to increased sensitivity to reward and decreased sensitivity to punishment (Corr, 2002; Monterosso & Ainslie, 1999), studies show that individuals who score high on impulsivity scales have decreased ERN amplitudes in response to errors (Potts, George, Martin, & Barratt, 2006; Ruchsow, Spitzer, Gron, Grothe, & Kiefer, 2005). Other studies have found similar results using more indirect measures of impulsivity. For example, individuals characterized as externalizing often have impulsive control problems (Krueger, Hicks, Patrick, & Carlson, 2002; Krueger, Markon, Patrick, & Iacono, 2005). As expected, high externalizing individuals also had smaller ERN amplitudes (Hall, Bernat, & Patrick, 2007).
