Trait worry is associated with difficulties in working memory updating
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: The current study investigated the effects of trait worry, a subcomponent of trait anxiety, on the process of updating information in working memory (WM). A leading theory on anxiety and executive functions, attentional control theory (ACT), states that anxiety is not related to WM updating in emotionally neutral situations. Previous research, however, has focused almost exclusively on WM span tasks that primarily emphasised storage, rather than the updating of WM representations. Moreover, few studies have directly examined the effects of trait worry. In this study, 116 subjects performed a WM updating task that required the memorisation of short lists of words and the within-trial removal of some of these items from WM. Results indicated that levels of trait worry were not related to word-span performance, but were related to performance on trials that required subjects to effectively update WM. Moreover, these effects were observed only for trait worry, not for levels of anxious arousal or comorbid levels of dysphoria. These results support the hypothesis that trait worry is related to WM updating performance and thereby extend ACT in new directions.
Source: Cognition & Emotion
Authors: Daniel E. Gustavson, Akira Miyake
Institution: University of Colorado Boulder
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2165879537