Dreisbach Gesine, Goschke Thomas
Psychology Department.
J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2004 Mar;30(2):343-353. doi: 10.1037/0278-7393.30.2.343.
A fundamental problem that organisms face in a changing environment is how to regulate dynamically the balance between stable maintenance and flexible switching of goals and cognitive sets. The authors show that positive affect plays an important role in the regulation of this stability-flexibility balance. In a cognitive set-switching paradigm, the induction of mild increases in positive affect, as compared with neutral or negative affect, promoted cognitive flexibility and reduced perseveration, but also incurred a cost in terms of increased distractibility. Rather than influencing set switching in an unspecific way, positive affect thus exerted opposite effects on perseveration and distractibility. Results are consistent with neuropsychological models according to which effects of positive affect on cognitive control are mediated by increased dopamine levels in frontal brain areas.
生物体在不断变化的环境中面临的一个基本问题是如何动态调节目标和认知定势的稳定维持与灵活转换之间的平衡。作者表明，积极情绪在这种稳定性 - 灵活性平衡的调节中起着重要作用。在认知定势转换范式中，与中性或消极情绪相比，轻度增加积极情绪的诱导促进了认知灵活性并减少了固着，但也在注意力分散增加方面付出了代价。因此，积极情绪并非以非特定方式影响定势转换，而是对固着和注意力分散产生了相反的影响。这些结果与神经心理学模型一致，根据该模型，积极情绪对认知控制的影响是由额叶脑区多巴胺水平的增加介导的。
