Khayyer Zahra, Saberi Azad Razieh, Torkzadeh Arani Zahra, Jafari Harandi Reza
Educational Sciences & Psychology Department, University of Isfahan, And Shahid Ashrafi Esfahani University, Isfahan, Iran.
Human Sciences Department, Sepahan Institute of Higher Education, Isfahan, Iran.
Heliyon. 2021 Apr 24;7(4):e06876. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06876. eCollection 2021 Apr.
Theoretical frameworks have shown that stress might influence working memory in different ways. Previous research has investigated the effect of stress on female's working memory but there is lack of evidence regarding the impact of emotional aspects.
This study examined the effect of stress induction on auditory working memory (AWM) performance among university students for emotional (positive and negative) and non-emotional (neutral) stimuli.
A sample of 102 female students at the Universities of Isfahan, Iran was selected using convenience sampling in 2018. Participants completed the demographic information sheets, then, they were randomly assigned into the experimental and control groups. The stress was induced by the Socially Evaluated Cold Pressor Test (SECPT). An n-back task was presented pre and post of stress induction, to evaluate the AWM performance (accuracy and reaction time). The research data were analyzed using mixed-model ANOVA.
Both accuracy and reaction time (RT) scores were found to be enhanced for positive words in the experimental condition. However, accuracy and RT indices were found to be worsening for negative words in the experimental condition.
This study supports the idea that stress influences AWM performance depend on emotionally-valenced stimuli, which may help us to better understand the underlying mechanisms of memory processing.
理论框架表明，压力可能以不同方式影响工作记忆。以往研究调查了压力对女性工作记忆的影响，但缺乏关于情绪方面影响的证据。
本研究考察了压力诱导对大学生在情绪性（积极和消极）和非情绪性（中性）刺激下听觉工作记忆（AWM）表现的影响。
2018年，采用便利抽样法从伊朗伊斯法罕大学选取了102名女学生作为样本。参与者填写人口统计学信息表，然后被随机分为实验组和对照组。通过社会评价冷加压试验（SECPT）诱导压力。在压力诱导前后进行n-back任务，以评估AWM表现（准确性和反应时间）。研究数据采用混合模型方差分析。
在实验条件下，发现积极词汇的准确性和反应时间（RT）得分均有所提高。然而，在实验条件下，消极词汇的准确性和RT指标却有所恶化。
本研究支持这样一种观点，即压力对AWM表现的影响取决于情绪效价刺激，这可能有助于我们更好地理解记忆加工的潜在机制。
