Effects of anxiety on task switching: evidence from the mixed antisaccade task.

Journal article

According to the attentional control theory of anxiety (Eysenck, Derakshan, Santos, and Calvo, 2007), anxiety impairs performance on cognitive tasks that involve the shifting function of working memory. This hypothesis was tested using a mixed antisaccade paradigm, in which participants performed single-task and mixed-task versions of the paradigm. The single task involved the completion of separate blocks of anti- and prosaccade trials, whereas in the mixed task, participants completed anti- and prosaccade trials in a random order within blocks. Analysis of switch costs showed that high-anxious individuals did not exhibit the commonly reported paradoxical improvement in saccade latency, whereas low-anxious individuals did. The findings are discussed within the framework of attentional control theory.

Authors: Ansari, T; Derakshan, N; Richards, A

• Journal: Cognitive, affective and behavioral neuroscience
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 229-238
• Publication date: 2008-09-01
• DOI: 10.3758/cabn.8.3.229
• EISSN: 1531-135X
• ISSN: 1530-7026
• Language: English
• Keywords: Reference Values; Middle Aged; Attention; Adult; Psychomotor Performance; Humans; Memory, Short-Term; Reaction Time; Decision Making; Anxiety; Saccades