Does distraction reduce pain-produced distress among college students? |
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Authors: | K D McCaul N Monson R H Maki |
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Institution: | Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Fargo 58105. |
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Abstract: | College students in four experiments placed their hands in ice water (the cold-pressor task) and reported their distress. They simultaneously engaged in different reaction-time (RT) tasks that varied in the amount of attention required for successful performance. In each experiment, which differed in numerous procedural details, RT, error-rate, and self-report measures all demonstrated that the distraction tasks differed in the degree of attention required. Greater distraction, however, failed to reduce physiological, self-report, or behavioral responses to the cold-pressor task. These data call into question the hypothesis that attention mediates the process whereby distraction tasks reduce pain-produced distress. |
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