The impact of anxiety on processing efficiency : implications for the attentional control theory
TLDR
In this article, the effects of anxiety on attentional control theory were explored in Parametric Go/No-Go and n-back tasks, as well as the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the results indicated that anxiety leads to decay in processing efficiency, but not in performance effectiveness, across all three Central Executive functions (inhibition, set-shifting and updating).Abstract:
The Attentional Control Theory (ACT) proposes that high-anxious individuals maintain performance effectiveness (accuracy) at the expense of processing efficiency (response time), in particular, the two central executive functions of inhibition and shifting. In contrast, research has generally failed to consider the third executive function which relates to the function of updating. In the current study, seventy-five participants completed the Parametric Go/No-Go and n-back tasks, as well as the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory in order to explore the effects of anxiety on attention. Results indicated that anxiety lead to decay in processing efficiency, but not in performance effectiveness, across all three Central Executive functions (inhibition, set-shifting and updating). Interestingly, participants with high levels of trait anxiety also exhibited impaired performance effectiveness on the n-back task designed to measure the updating function. Findings are discussed in relation to developing a new model of ACT that also includes the role of preattentive processes and dual-task coordination when exploring the effects of anxiety on task performance.read more
Citations
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A meta-analysis of the relationship between anxiety and attentional control.
TL;DR: Overall, results supported assumptions of ACT: anxiety produced significant deficits in AC efficiency but not effectiveness; these deficits occurred in inhibition and switching but not updating and studies with high cognitive load conditions found larger anxiety related AC deficits.
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Cognitive trait anxiety, situational stress, and mental effort predict shifting efficiency: Implications for attentional control theory.
TL;DR: This paper investigated the relationship between cognitive trait anxiety, situational stress, and mental effort in a shifting task (Wisconsin Card Sorting Task) and found that higher mental effort was associated with poorer efficiency, whereas at lower effort, this relationship was highly significant and most pronounced for those in the high-stress condition.
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Cognitive trait anxiety, stress and effort interact to predict inhibitory control
TL;DR: Results suggest a distinction between how somatic and cognitive anxiety manifest on tasks involving inhibitory control, and indicate that somatic trait anxiety and stress did not predict effectiveness or efficiency.
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Driven by distraction: investigating the effects of anxiety on driving performance using the Attentional Control Theory
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the effects of trait anxiety on self-reported driving behaviours through its negative impacts on Central Executive functions and found that trait anxiety was a strong predictor of driving lapses after processing efficiency was controlled for.
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Response inhibition in the parametric go/no-go task and its relation to impulsivity and subclinical psychopathy.
TL;DR: The results show that as executive function load increased, inhibitory ability decreased, and data point towards the PGNG in studying response inhibition in the context of highly impulsive populations and its utility as a measure of impulsivity.
References
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Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory
TL;DR: The STAI as mentioned in this paper is an indicator of two types of anxiety, the state and trait anxiety, and measure the severity of the overall anxiety level, which is appropriate for those who have at least a sixth grade reading level.
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The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex "Frontal Lobe" tasks: a latent variable analysis.
Akira Miyake,Naomi P. Friedman,Michael J. Emerson,Alexander H. Witzki,Amy Howerter,Tor D. Wager +5 more
TL;DR: The results suggest that it is important to recognize both the unity and diversity ofExecutive functions and that latent variable analysis is a useful approach to studying the organization and roles of executive functions.
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Control of goal-directed and stimulus-driven attention in the brain
TL;DR: Evidence for partially segregated networks of brain areas that carry out different attentional functions is reviewed, finding that one system is involved in preparing and applying goal-directed selection for stimuli and responses, and the other is specialized for the detection of behaviourally relevant stimuli.
Journal Article
Controlled and Automatic Human Information Processing: 1. Detection, Search, and Attention.
TL;DR: A series of studies using both reaction time and accuracy measures is presented, which traces these concepts in the form of automatic detection and controlled, search through the areas of detection, search, and attention and resolves a number of apparent conflicts in the literature.
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Anxiety and cognitive performance: Attentional control theory.
TL;DR: Attentional control theory is an approach to anxiety and cognition representing a major development of Eysenck and Calvo's (1992) processing efficiency theory and may not impair performance effectiveness when it leads to the use of compensatory strategies (e.g., enhanced effort; increased use of processing resources).