Induced Worrying Impairs Updating Efficiency

Abstract

In the attentional control theory of anxiety, Eysenck, Derakshan, Santos, and Calvo (2007) propose that worrying depletes cognitive resources, thereby reducing the efficiency of cognitive task performance in anxious participants. However, most of the research supporting this hypothesis does not directly address the contribution of worrying to the association between anxiety and cognitive task performance. In the present study we examined the direct effect of induced worrying on cognitive performance in an undergraduate sample, with participants with a high tendency to worry (N=36) and participants with a low tendency to worry (N=30). We used an n-back task to measure their capacity to actively update the content of working memory. Results indicate that a worry-induction decreases general updating efficiency. This decrease in updating efficiency was most pronounced immediately after the worry-induction and disappeared towards the end of the experiment. There was no difference in updating efficiency between participants with a high and low tendency to worry. We can conclude that a worry-induction impairs the updating capacity of working memory, unrelated to a person’s inherent tendency to worry. Keywords: