A probabilistic association task that manipulated the necessity
to temporarily store information was combined with the recording
of event-related potentials. In Experiment 1, scores obtained
from a positive schizotypy scale were used to categorize
participants as either low or high schizotypal individuals.
Low, but not high, schizotypal individuals displayed evidence
for selective associative learning in the working memory dependent
(“trace”) version of the task. The amplitudes of
the occipito-temporal N150 were attenuated in high schizotypal
individuals. In Experiment 2, the intravenous administration
of a single dose of haloperidol (0.04 mg/kg), but not of a placebo,
strengthened the selectivity of associative learning in the
trace version of the task. The amplitudes of the occipito-temporal
N150 were augmented by haloperidol. Psychometrically identified
schizotypal individuals and normal individuals under mild stress
demonstrated defective prioritization of information in working
memory and deficient visual encoding. These neurocognitive effects
of schizotypy and stress seem to be mediated by the D2 family
of dopamine receptors.