Lack of effect of d-amphetamine on perceptual reactance and personality.

Eysenck in a 1964 article and Petrie in a 1967 article offered theories relating perceptual characteristics to personality traits, primarily extraversion. Petrie believes that perceptual reactance, the degree to which a given individual over or underresponds to external stimuli, is fairly stable within individuals. Eysenck offered a parallel concept, the excitation/inhibition ratio, to explain perceptual reactance itself. This study initially attempted to measure the effects of the stimulant drug d-amphetamine on perceptual reactance and some of the factors presumably determined by it. Results were negative. It was noted further that there is considerable doubt as to the validity of perceptual reactance as a predictor.