Threat of bodily harm has opposing effects on cognition

Several theoretical frameworks have suggested that anxiety/stress impairs cognitive performance. A competing prediction is made by attentional narrowing models that predict that stress decreases the processing of task-irrelevant items, thus benefiting performance when task-irrelevant information interferes with behavior. Critically, previous studies have not evaluated these competing frameworks when potent emotional manipulations are involved. Here, we used threat of bodily harm preceding a color-word Stroop task to test these claims. We found a basic effect of threat consisting of a slowing down of performance during neutral Stroop trials. Furthermore, both facilitation and interference scores were affected by threat of shock in a way that was consistent with a reduced-distractor effect. Taken together, we interpret our findings in terms of two opposing effects of stress on cognitive performance. Although partly consistent with the attentional narrowing hypothesis, both resource models and cognitive breadth models require revision in order to account for the results.     

急性有氧运动对认知表现的影响

急性有氧运动是持续时间在10~60分钟的一次有氧运动。急性有氧运动可暂时性地改变感觉敏感度、记忆、执行功能等认知功能, 但其对不同认知功能的影响效果存在差异, 干预结果受到个体体适能水平、运动强度和运动类型等因素的调节。目前用于解释急性有氧运动影响认知表现的理论有唤醒理论、前额叶功能衰退理论、神经内分泌模型和神经营养因子假说。未来的研究应加强对急性运动发挥作用机制的探究, 更多关注身心运动、团体运动等不同运动形式的干预效果, 以期为长期“运动处方”的开具提供依据。     

The effects of exercise at different temperatures on cognitive function: A systematic review

To date, no review has focused specifically on the potential modulating role of environmental temperature on the effects of exercise on cognitive function. Despite this, a range of occupations and performance contexts exist (e.g., military personnel, emergency services, sport) where the maintenance of cognitive function in environmentally challenging environments is crucial. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to evaluate the experimental research investigating how manipulating environmental temperature influenced the effects of acute bouts exercise on cognitive functioning from pre-to-post exercise, or during exercise. Studies to be included were assessed by two authors reviewing title, abstract, and then full-text. From the searches conducted, twenty articles were identified which met the inclusion criteria. For the purpose of this review, exercise involved in each study was categorised into low, moderate, and vigorous dosages (dependent on intensity and duration). The results indicate that moderate dosages of exercise help stimulate improved cognitive performance from pre-to-post exercise in temperate conditions, where cold exposure appears to blunt these effects. In addition, hot environments led to cognitive decrements during and post exercise which were often identified in studies that implemented prolonged moderate or vigorous exercise protocols. Therefore, suggesting a combination of heightened physiological strain from increased dose of exercise, alongside heat exposure, can be detrimental to optimal cognitive functioning, whereby executive functioning tasks appeared to be most affected. The findings from this systematic review highlight the potential modulating role of environmental temperature on the effects of exercise on cognitive function. Thus, highlighting the importance of considering the role of environmental temperature for individuals either exercising to elicit desired cognitive benefits or for those involved in physically demanding occupations or performance domains.     

Electroencephalographic evidence for improved visual working memory performance during standing and exercise

While a substantial body of research has investigated the effects of aerobic exercise on cognitive performance, few have monitored exercise‐concurrent cognitive processes via electroencephalography and fewer still using an event‐related potential (ERP) approach. As such, little is known regarding how the temporal dynamics of cognitive processing are influenced during aerobic activity. Here, we aimed to elucidate the influence of aerobic exercise on the temporal dynamics of concurrent visual working memory (VWM) performance. Participants performed a VWM retro‐cue task at rest and during aerobic exercise across two postural modalities: seated (using a stationary bicycle) and standing upright (using a treadmill). Three consecutive phases of the VWM processing pipeline were assessed by means of lateralized ERPs: access of VWM representations, response selection, and response execution. Aerobic exercise and upright posture were found to have significant effects on VWM performance, facilitating processing speed in the retro‐cue task. This facilitation arose primarily at an intermediary stage between the phases of accessing VWM representations and response selection. Our findings hold implications not only for understanding the influence of aerobic activity on VWM, but also for contemporary models of VWM that are built exclusively on data recorded during stationary, seated conditions.     

Effects of social exclusion on cognitive processes: anticipated aloneness reduces intelligent thought

Three studies examined the effects of randomly assigned messages of social exclusion. In all 3 studies, significant and large decrements in intelligent thought (including IQ and Graduate Record Examination test performance) were found among people told they were likely to end up alone in life. The decline in cognitive performance was found in complex cognitive tasks such as effortful logic and reasoning; simple information processing remained intact despite the social exclusion. The effects were specific to social exclusion, as participants who received predictions of future nonsocial misfortunes (accidents and injuries) performed well on the cognitive tests. The cognitive impairments appeared to involve reductions in both speed (effort) and accuracy. The effect was not mediated by mood.     

The specificity of the effects of stimulant medication on classroom learning-related measures of cognitive processing for Attention Deficit Disorder children

There appear to be beneficial effects of stimulant medication on daily classroom measures of cognitive functioning for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) children, but the specificity and origin of such effects is unclear. Consistent with previous results, 0.3 mg/kg methylphenidate improved ADD children's performance on a classroom reading comprehension measure. Using the Posner letting-matching task and four additional measures of phonological processing, we attempted to isolate the effects of methylphenidate to parameter estimates of (a) selective attention, (b) the basic cognitive process of retrieving name codes from permanent memory, and (c) a constant term that represented nonspecific aspects of information processing. Responses to the letter-matching stimuli were faster and more accurate with medication compared to placebo. The improvement in performance was isolated to the parameter estimate that reflected nonspecific aspects of information processing. A lack of medication effect on the other measures of phonological processing supported the Posner task findings in indicating that methylphenidate appears to exert beneficial effects on academic processing through general rather than specific aspects of information processing.     

Effect of structuring the workspace on cognitive and sensorimotor distance estimation: no dissociation between perception and action

Independent processing of visual information for perception and action is supported by studies about visual illusions, which showed that context information influences overtjudgment but not reaching attempts. The objection was raised, however, that these two types of performance are notdirectly comparable, since they generally focus on different properties of the visual input. The goal of the present study was to quantify the influence of context information (in the form of a textured background) on the cognitive and sensorimotor processing of egocentric distance. We found that the subjective area comprising reachable objects (probed with a cognitive task) decreased, whereas the amplitude of reaching movement (probed with a sensorimotor task) increased in the presence of the textured background with both binocular and monocular viewing. Directional motor performance was not affected by the experimental conditions, but there was a tendency for the kinematic parameters to mimic trajectory variations. The similar but opposite effects of the textured background in the cognitive and sensorimotor tasks suggested that in both tasks the visual targets were perceived as closer when they were presented in a sparse environment. A common explanation for the opposite effects was confirmed by the percentage of background influence, which was highly correlated in the two tasks. We conclude that visual processing for perception and action cannot be dissociated from context influence, since it does not differ when the tasks entail the processing of similar spatial characteristics.     

认知疲劳效应对内隐记忆与外显记忆的影响

本研究通过比较内隐记忆与外显记忆受到认知疲劳影响的情况,以了解内隐记忆的自动化加工机制。实验采用被试内设计,使用词汇判断与词汇再认任务测量内隐记忆与外显记忆。实验结果发现,相对于控制组,疲劳组的被试在完成疲劳任务后内隐记忆成绩显著下降,而外显记忆没有受到影响。结果说明相对于外显记忆,内隐记忆更容易受到认知疲劳影响。内隐记忆虽然是无意识的认知加工,但是与其他自动化加工具有不同的特征。     

认知疲劳效应对内隐记忆与外显记忆的影响

本研究通过比较内隐记忆与外显记忆受到认知疲劳影响的情况,以了解内隐记忆的自动化加工机制。实验采用被试内设计,使用词汇判断与词汇再认任务测量内隐记忆与外显记忆。实验结果发现,相对于控制组,疲劳组的被试在完成疲劳任务后内隐记忆成绩显著下降,而外显记忆没有受到影响。结果说明相对于外显记忆,内隐记忆更容易受到认知疲劳影响。内隐记忆虽然是无意识的认知加工,但是与其他自动化加工具有不同的特征。     

The cuing and priming of cognitive operations

The effect on performance of advance information about the specific cognitive operations to be performed on a stimulus was investigated in two experiments using cues (information useful and necessary for performance) and primes (information useful but not necessary for performance). In the first experiment, a cue presented prior to a digit stimulus indicated whether the digit was to be classified as odd or even, or low (less than 6) or high (greater than 5). Results showed that performance improved with increasing time between cue and digit and with practice. A stroop-like asymmetric interference of the low-high operation on the odd-even operation was also observed. In the second experiment, a prime that matched the cue, mismatched it, or was neutral was presented before the cue. Results showed facilitatory and inhibitory priming effects, as well as a distance effect based on the position of a digit relative to the boundary between 5 and 6. The results of both experiments were discussed in terms of a model based on relative processing speeds of the two relevant properties of the digits.     

Protective effect of aerobic fitness on the detrimental influence of exhaustive exercise on information processing capacity

Although aerobic fitness has been thought to protect against the detrimental cognitive effects following exhaustive exercise, available evidence from studies using traditional mean behavioral measures remain somewhat equivocal.PurposeThis study aimed to reconcile this discrepancy by using a novel theory-driven diagnostic tool, the Systems Factorial Technology (SFT).MethodsSixty-six healthy young adults aged from 18 to 30 years old with different levels of aerobic fitness (n = 33 for the higher-fit and lower-fit groups) completed a go/nogo version of redundant-target task before and after a graded exercise test (GXT) until exhaustion. SFT was used to calculate the resilience capacity, which reflects the information processing capacity underlying inhibitory control.ResultsFollowing the GXT, both higher-fit and lower-fit groups showed faster responses while leaving accuracy unchanged as compared to the performance at the pretest. On the other hand, the resilience capacity decreased for the lower-fit group but was maintained for the higher-fit group.ConclusionThe present findings suggest that aerobic fitness may modulate the individual difference in decisional mechanism following exhaustive exercise. In sum, this study offers an alternative mechanistic explanation regarding cognitive individual differences in response to exhaustive exercise and provides novel insights into the significance of maintaining a state of high physical fitness for those who need to perform cognitively challenging tasks under physically stressful conditions (e.g., elite athletes).     

Affective incoherence: when affective concepts and embodied reactions clash

In five studies, the authors examined the effects on cognitive performance of coherence and incoherence between conceptual and experiential sources of affective information. The studies crossed the priming of happy and sad concepts with affective experiences. In different experiments, these included approach or avoidance actions, happy or sad feelings, and happy or sad expressive behaviors. In all studies, coherence between affective concepts and affective experiences led to better recall of a story than did affective incoherence. The authors suggest that the experience of such experiential affective cues serves as evidence of the appropriateness of affective concepts that come to mind. The results suggest that affective coherence has epistemic benefits and that incoherence is costly in terms of cognitive performance.     

Modeling individual differences in working memory performance: a source activation account

Working memory resources are needed for processing and maintenance of information during cognitive tasks. Many models have been developed to capture the effects of limited working memory resources on performance. However, most of these models do not account for the finding that different individuals show different sensitivities to working memory demands, and none of the models predicts individual subjects' patterns of performance. We propose a computational model that accounts for differences in working memory capacity in terms of a quantity called source activation , which is used to maintain goal-relevant information in an available state. We apply this model to capture the working memory effects of individual subjects at a fine level of detail across two experiments. This, we argue, strengthens the interpretation of source activation as working memory capacity.     

PROGRESSION THROUGH THE RANKS: ASSESSING EMPLOYEE REACTIONS TO HIGH-STAKES EMPLOYMENT TESTING

Employee reactions to promotional examinations were investigated in 2 studies ( N  = 498 & 182, respectively) of police officers. Anxiety, motivation, and justice perceptions were examined as possible predictors of promotional exam performance and intentions to recommend the exam to others. Reactions to a promotional examination were significantly and differentially related to those criteria. Motivation predicted performance whereas justice perceptions predicted recommendation intentions. In Study 2, the role of cognitive processing was also investigated. Results indicated that candidate reactions predicted exam performance through cognitive processing mechanisms. Exam motivation facilitated cognitive processing, which resulted in higher levels of exam performance. In contrast, exam anxiety exhibited both facilitative and debilitative cognitive processing effects.     

Connecting the Many Levels and Facets of Cognitive Aging

Basic cognitive mechanisms, such as the abilities to briefly maintain, focus, and process information, decline with age. Related fields of cognitive aging research have been advancing rapidly, but mostly independently, at the biological, information processing, and behavioral levels. To facilitate integration, this article reviews research on cognitive aging at the different levels, and describes a recent integrative theory postulating that aging-related deficiencies in neurotransmission cause increased noise in information processing and less distinctive cortical representation, which in turn lead to cognitive deficits. Aging-related attenuation of catecholaminergic modulation can be modeled by lowering a neural network parameter to reduce the signal-to-noise ratio of information processing. The performance of such models is consistent with benchmark phenomena observed in humans, ranging from age differences in learning rate, asymptotic performance, and interference susceptibility to intra- and interindividual variability and ability dedifferentiation. Although the details of the conjectured sequence of effects linking neuromodulation to cognitive aging deficits await further empirical validation, cross-level theorizing of the kind illustrated here could foster the coevolution of related fields through cross-level data synthesis and hypothesis testing.     

On-line story representation in boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) face an increased risk of poor achievement in school. Thus, knowledge of the cognitive processing abilities of children with ADHD is critical to understanding and improving their academic performance. Although many studies have focused on the specific nature of the attention deficit experienced by children with ADHD, few have examined higher order cognitive processing such as comprehension of stories. The present study examined the processes of encoding story information, building a story representation, and modifying a story representation in boys with ADHD and nonreferred boys. Boys were asked to narrate a story from a picture book twice. Boys with ADHD showed deficits in representing goals and goal plans in their narrations, as compared to nonreferred boys. Boys with ADHD also committed more errors than nonreferred boys, but did correct certain types of errors on their second telling. Implications are discussed in terms of future research needed to identify the cognitive deficits that account for these narrative deficits.     

Exercise modulates the interaction between cognition and anxiety in humans

Despite interest in exercise as a treatment for anxiety disorders the mechanism behind the anxiolytic effects of exercise is unclear. Two observations motivate the present work. First, engagement of attention control during increased working memory (WM) load can decrease anxiety. Second, exercise can improve attention control. Therefore, exercise could boost the anxiolytic effects of increased WM load via its strengthening of attention control. Anxiety was induced by threat of shock and was quantified with anxiety-potentiated startle (APS). Thirty-five healthy volunteers (19 male, age M?=?26.11, SD ?=?5.52) participated in two types of activity, exercise (biking at 60–70% of heart rate reserve) and control-activity (biking at 10–20% of heart rate reserve). After each activity, participants completed a WM task (n-back) at low- and high-load during safe and threat. Results were not consistent with the hypothesis: exercise vs. control-activity increased APS in high-load (p?=?.03). However, this increased APS was not accompanied with threat-induced impairment in WM performance (p?=?.37). Facilitation of both task-relevant stimulus processing and task-irrelevant threat processing, concurrent with prevention of threat interference on cognition, suggests that exercise increases cognitive ability. Future studies should explore how exercise affects the interplay of cognition and anxiety in patients with anxiety disorders.     

Cognitive specificity in emotional distress

Cognitive approaches to emotional distress posit that specific cognitive factors are critically linked to the etiology, course, or treatment of dysfunction. Although a number of empirical studies have assessed cognitive factors in emotional disorders such as depression and anxiety, research has yet to assess these variables simultaneously and with identical cognitive measures. Using depression and test anxiety as models of dysfunctional affective states, we examined cognitive specificity on measures of information processing, attributions, automatic thinking, and cognitive interference. Results indicated a pattern of specificity showing several differences and similarities in depression and anxiety. Specifically, "purely" depressed individuals showed evidence of selectively processing depressive information, making dysfunctional attributions, and engaging in more negative automatic thinking. "Purely" anxious individuals, on the other hand, showed evidence of selective anxious information processing and increased cognitive interference. Results are discussed in terms of a taxonomy for classifying depressive and anxious cognition.     

Information processing biases and panic disorder: relationships among cognitive and symptom measures

To test cognitive models of panic disorder, a range of information processing biases were examined among persons with panic disorder (N=43) and healthy control participants (N=38). Evidence for automatic associations in memory was assessed using the Implicit Association Test, interference effects related to attention biases were assessed using a modified supraliminal Stroop task, and interpretation biases were assessed using the Brief Body Sensations Interpretation Questionnaire. In addition, the relationship between information processing biases and clinical markers of panic (including affective, behavioral, and cognitive symptom measures) was investigated, along with the relationships among biases. Results indicated more threat biases among the panic (relative to control) group on each of the information processing measures, providing some of the first evidence for an implicit measure of panic associations. Further, structural equation modeling indicated that the information processing bias measures were each unique predictors of panic symptoms, but that the bias indicators did not relate to one another. These findings suggest that cognitive factors may independently predict panic symptoms, but not covary. Results are discussed in terms of their support for cognitive models of panic and the potential for automatic versus strategic processing differences across the tasks to explain the low relationships across the biases.     

行为决策中的描述–经验差距:信息加工角度的解释

选项信息获取过程会影响决策,描述–经验差距简称D-E差距,是指个体进行决策时根据概括性描述信息得到的结果与依据序列体验信息的经验得到的结果之间的差异。文章以认知因素在决策范式演进过程中的角色为线索,梳理了D-E差距的提出及最新的研究发现。参考决策认知过程框架从信息加工角度探讨D-E差距影响因素,从整体上解释D-E差距的原因。未来需要从全面对比两种决策范式,改进经验决策研究方法等角度进行深入探讨。