Other evidence suggests that negative affect is strongly related to individual differences in punishment sensitivity (Carver & White, 1994; Watson, Wiese, Validya, & Tellegen, 1999). Two studies have examined behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral activation system (BAS) scores relative to ERN amplitude (Amodio, Master et al., 2007; Boksem, Tops, Wester, Meijman, & Lorist, 2006). BIS and BAS scores are thought to represent punishment sensitivity and reward seeking, respectively (Carver & White, 1994; Gray, 1972, 1981). Consistent with the notion that errors are aversive, both Boksem and colleagues (2006) and Amodio and colleagues (2007) found that subjects with high BIS scores also had larger ERNs. BIS and BAS traits relate to biases towards reactive and proactive control respectively (Boksem et al., 2006; Braver, Gray, & Burgess, 2007; Gray & Braver, 2002), and may also relate to learning style. For example, another study found that participants who learned by avoiding negative events (i.e., reactive control) had larger ERNs than individuals who learned from positive events (i.e., proactive control; Frank, Woroch, & Curran, 2005).
