Schoolof Psychology, Birkbeck University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E7HX, England.
Psychon Bull Rev. 2009 Dec;16(6):1112-7. doi: 10.3758/PBR.16.6.1112.
Low- and high-anxious participants performed arithmetical tasks under task-switching or nontask-switching conditions. These tasks were low or high in complexity. The task on each trial was either explicitly cued or not cued. We assumed that demands on attentional control would be greater in the task-switching condition than in the nontask-switching condition, and would be greater with high-complexity tasks than with low-complexity ones. We also assumed that demands on attentional control would be greater when cues were absent rather than present. According to attentional control theory (Eysenck, Derakshan, Santos, & Calvo, 2007), anxiety impairs attentional control processes required to shift attention optimally within and between tasks. We predicted that there would be greater negative effects of high state anxiety in the task-switching condition than in the nontask-switching condition. Our theoretical predictions were supported, suggesting that state anxiety reduces attentional control.
低焦虑和高焦虑参与者在任务转换或非任务转换条件下进行算术任务。这些任务的复杂度有高有低。每次试验的任务要么明确提示，要么不提示。我们假设，在任务转换条件下，注意力控制的需求会大于非任务转换条件下的需求，而且在高复杂度任务下的需求会大于低复杂度任务下的需求。我们还假设，当没有提示而不是有提示时，注意力控制的需求会更大。根据注意控制理论（Eysenck、Derakshan、Santos 和 Calvo，2007），焦虑会损害在任务内和任务间最佳转移注意力所需的注意控制过程。我们预测，在任务转换条件下，高状态焦虑的负面影响会大于非任务转换条件下的负面影响。我们的理论预测得到了支持，表明状态焦虑会降低注意力控制。
