Post-event processing in social anxiety: Investigation using Attentional Control Theory

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 247-267
Author(s):  
Rachel A. Sluis ◽  
◽  
Mark J. Boschen ◽  
David L. Neumann ◽  
Karen Murphy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Control Theory ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Event Processing ◽  
Attentional Control Theory

Anxiety, Processing Efficiency, and Cognitive Performance

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazanin Derakshan ◽  
Michael W. Eysenck
Keyword(s):  
Control Theory ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
Performance Effectiveness ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Attentional Control Theory ◽  
Efficiency Theory ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Switching Attention

There have been many attempts to account theoretically for the effects of anxiety on cognitive performance. This article focuses on two theories based on insights from cognitive psychology. The more recent is the attentional control theory ( Eysenck, Derakshan, Santos, & Calvo, 2007 ), which developed from the earlier processing efficiency theory ( Eysenck & Calvo, 1992 ). Both theories assume there is a fundamental distinction between performance effectiveness (quality of performance) and processing efficiency (the relationship between performance effectiveness and use of processing resources), and that anxiety impairs processing efficiency more than performance effectiveness. Both theories also assume that anxiety impairs the efficiency of the central executive component of the working memory system. In addition, attentional control theory assumes that anxiety impairs the efficiency of two types of attentional control: (1) negative attentional control (involved in inhibiting attention to task-irrelevant stimuli); and (2) positive attentional control (involved in flexibly switching attention between and within tasks to maximize performance). Recent (including unpublished) research relevant to theoretical predictions from attentional control theory is discussed. In addition, future directions for theory and research in the area of anxiety and performance are presented.

scholarly journals Anxiety, anticipation and contextual information: A test of attentional control theory

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 1037-1048 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam J. Cocks ◽  
Robin C. Jackson ◽  
Daniel T. Bishop ◽  
A. Mark Williams
Keyword(s):  
Control Theory ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Attentional Control Theory

Examining the effects of musical type and intensity in performing the flanker task: A test of attentional control theory applied to non-emotional distractions

2020 ◽  
pp. 030573562092259
Author(s):  
Michael D Oliver ◽  
Jacob J Levy ◽  
Debora R Baldwin
Keyword(s):  
Control Theory ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Sound Intensity ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
Attentional Control Theory ◽  
And Performance

Music alters the interplay between components of cognition and performance; however, there are inconclusive findings on how. One explanation may be Attentional Control Theory, which states that anxiety places demands on cognitive resources producing adverse effects on cognitive performance. Similarly, characteristics of music alter cognitive faculties resulting in poor performance. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate effects on cognition specific to influences of music through the lens of Attentional Control Theory. In an attempt to explain how music impacts cognitive performance, we asked 141 college students (63.1% female) to complete the flanker task while listening to either lyrical or non-lyrical music at differing sound intensities. Results revealed a significant main effect of music type on flanker performance; however, no significant differences emerged with sound intensity. Findings suggest music with lyrics, rather than intensity, impairs cognition in adults, thereby elucidating the importance of avoiding music with lyrics during active tasks. Moreover, musical lyrics worsen performance by either interfering with selective attention processing of goal-relevant information or altering working memory capacity resulting in decreases in processing efficiency and performance effectiveness. Therefore, findings support the use of attentional control theory as a means of explaining differences in cognitive performance due to characteristics of music.

Anxiety, Inhibition, Efficiency, and Effectiveness

2009 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazanin Derakshan ◽  
Tahereh L. Ansari ◽  
Miles Hansard ◽  
Leor Shoker ◽  
Michael W. Eysenck
Keyword(s):  
Control Theory ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Antisaccade Task ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
Performance Effectiveness ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
High Anxious ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Attentional Control Theory

Effects of anxiety on the antisaccade task were assessed. Performance effectiveness on this task (indexed by error rate) reflects a conflict between volitional and reflexive responses resolved by inhibitory processes (Hutton, S. B., & Ettinger, U. (2006). The antisaccade task as a research tool in psychopathology: A critical review. Psychophysiology, 43, 302–313). However, latency of the first correct saccade reflects processing efficiency (relationship between performance effectiveness and use of resources). In two experiments, high-anxious participants had longer correct antisaccade latencies than low-anxious participants and this effect was greater with threatening cues than positive or neutral ones. The high- and low-anxious groups did not differ in terms of error rate in the antisaccade task. No group differences were found in terms of latency or error rate in the prosaccade task. These results indicate that anxiety affects performance efficiency but not performance effectiveness. The findings are interpreted within the context of attentional control theory (Eysenck, M. W., Derakshan, N., Santos, R., & Calvo, M. G. (2007). Anxiety and cognitive performance: Attentional control theory. Emotion, 7 (2), 336–353).

Neither State or Trait Anxiety Alter the Response to Distracting Emotionally Neutral Sounds

2015 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Hoskin ◽  
Mike D. Hunter ◽  
Peter W. R. Woodruff
Keyword(s):  
Control Theory ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
State Anxiety ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Emotional State ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Attentional Control Theory ◽  
Audiovisual Stimuli ◽  
The Impact

Attentional control theory suggests that heightened anxiety, whether due to trait or state factors, causes an increased vulnerability to distraction even when the distracters are emotionally neutral. Recent passive oddball studies appear to support this theory in relation to the distraction caused by emotionally neutral sounds. However such studies have manipulated emotional state via the content of task stimuli, thus potentially confounding changes in emotion with differences in task demands. To identify the effect of anxiety on the distraction caused by emotionally neutral sounds, 50 participants completed a passive oddball task requiring emotionally neutral sounds to be ignored. Crucially, state anxiety was manipulated independent of the task stimuli (via unrelated audiovisual stimuli) thus removing confounds relating to task demands. Neither state or trait anxiety was found to influence the susceptibility to distraction by emotionally neutral sounds. These findings contribute to the ongoing debate concerning the impact of emotion on attention.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document