Biological Psychology 19 (1984) 141-142

North-Holland

141

BOOK REVIEW

M. ZUCKERMAN, Biological Bases of Sensation Seeking, Impulsivity, and

Anxiety (Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, 1983) pp. xii + 274.

The title of this book is a good guide to its contents. Research and theorizing about the three traits based on genetic, psychophysiological, and neurochemical investigations in humans and animals are reviewed and dis- cussed by Zuckerman and his contributors. Although the emphasis is on the first two of the three traits mentioned in the title, most contributors include a dimension of anxiety in presenting their work.

The book opens with a discussion by Eysenck of what modern behaviour genetics can be expected to contribute to personality research. This forms the background to a review of findings on the genetics of impulsivity and sensation seeking. Although the aim is to dispel the confusion that has arisen within Eysenck’s three-factor model of personality as a consequence of recent psycho- metric and psychophysiological work on impulsivity, Eysenck is not wholly successful in this. Zuckerman, in his chapter which follows, makes a case for studying personality traits at both the human and animal levels, and proceeds to review work on the sensation-seeking construct from both these perspec- tives. In the final section of his chapter he outlines a neuropsychological model in which the basis of the trait is postulated to lie in the limbic reward system. Barratt and Patton, in their contribution, focus primarily on the impulsivity trait and outline their attempts to define it psychometrically and experimen- tally. They argue for a systems approach to the question and conclude with a model of the biological bases of personality which relates activity in an ‘action’ system responsible for impulsivity and sensation seeking to the monoamine, dopamine, and activity in an arousal system underlying anxiety to serotonin. Schalling and co-workers in their chapter review the development of the Karolinska scales of impulsiveness and monotony avoidance and recent re- search correlating scores on these with monoamine oxidase levels in the blood. Two chapters follow, one by Stein and one by Gray and colleagues, which involve fairly detailed discussions of the neurochemistry of the reward system of the brain. The chapter by Gray and colleagues is much broader than Stein’s, involving as it does reference to Gray’s learning-theory based model of emotion and its implications for personality, but a major thrust of it is to take

0301-0511/84/$3.00 0 1984, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North-Holland)

142 Book recirw

issue with Stein’s argument for the joint influence of norepinephrine and dopamine systems in mediating reward. For Gray, Stein’s hypothesis that norepinephrine is involved is simply wrong. The issue is significant for the purpose of the book in that Zuckerman has used Stein’s model in developing his thinking about the biological bases of sensation seeking. Zuckerman concludes the substantive chapters with the report of a study relating a number of monoamine metabolites measured from samples of blood, urine and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to measures of impulsivity, sensation seeking, ex- traversion, and anxiety in a sample of 43 male and female subjects. The results of the study, although interesting, do not greatly advance the arguments put in the earlier chapters. A negative correlation between sensation seeking and CSF-norepinephrine is the reverse of that predicted from Zuckerman’s model, while a negative correlation between one of the norepinephrine metabolites and anxiety is interpreted as contrary to Gray’s hypothesis.

The seven substantive chapters are ably brought together by comments from Zuckerman which follow each of them, and by a final chapter in which Zuckerman attempts to summarize in tabular and commentary form the essential findings of the work reviewed. There is, perhaps not surprisingly, a tendency in some of the comments to be too concerned with the implications of the work for sensation seeking, the construct of major interest to Zucker- man, but on the whole they are useful and balanced commentaries on the chapters that precede them. Without these the reader would face a daunting task of weaving together the variety of viewpoints expressed.wew

The book will be of interest and value to researchers and research students in both theoretical and applied areas. Although not primarily about psychopa- thology in that much of the research reviewed does not involve patient samples, the theorizing will be of interest to many concerned with the aetiology of antisocial behaviour. Research students will find a good deal to stimulate their thinking, while those readers simply wanting an up-to-date review of what is currently known about the biological, particularly neurochemical, bases of personality traits will find it here.

Zuckerman has done a good job of bringing together the work of a number of research groups who are concerned with similar constructs but whose work has not previously been treated jointly. The book does not present a synthesis of this work, it is far too early for that, but it does point to the similarities and differences in the approaches and findings of the different groups in ways that are both informative and provocative. The book is thus a valuable contribution to the literature on the biological bases of personality.

John O’Gorman University of New England