Valence, Arousal, and Cognitive Control: a Voluntary Task-switching Study

Overview

Journal Front Psychol

Date 2011 Dec 2

PMID 22131982

Citations 10

Authors

Jelle Demanet

Baptist Liefooghe

Frederick Verbruggen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The present study focused on the interplay between arousal, valence, and cognitive control. To this end, we investigated how arousal and valence associated with affective stimuli influenced cognitive flexibility when switching between tasks voluntarily. Three hypotheses were tested. First, a valence hypothesis that states that the positive valence of affective stimuli will facilitate both global and task-switching performance because of increased cognitive flexibility. Second, an arousal hypothesis that states that arousal, and not valence, will specifically impair task-switching performance by strengthening the previously executed task-set. Third, an attention hypothesis that states that both cognitive and emotional control ask for limited attentional resources, and predicts that arousal will impair both global and task-switching performance. The results showed that arousal affected task-switching but not global performance, possibly by phasic modulations of the noradrenergic system that reinforces the previously executed task. In addition, positive valence only affected global performance but not task-switching performance, possibly by phasic modulations of dopamine that stimulates the general ability to perform in a multitasking environment.

Citing Articles

Electrophysiological correlates of interference control in the modified emotional Stroop task with emotional stimuli differing in valence, arousal, and subjective significance.

Imbir K, Pastwa M, Duda-Golawska J, Sobieszek A, Jankowska M, Modzelewska A PLoS One. 2021; 16(10):e0258177.

PMID: 34648542 PMC: 8516239. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258177.

Valence and arousal of words in visual and conceptual interference control efficiency.

Imbir K, Pastwa M, Jankowska M, Kosman M, Modzelewska A, Wielgopolan A PLoS One. 2020; 15(11):e0241694.

PMID: 33211720 PMC: 7676691. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241694.

Induced affective states do not modulate effort avoidance.

Gonzalez-Garcia C, Garcia-Carrion B, Lopez-Benitez R, Sobrado A, Acosta A, Ruz M Psychol Res. 2020; 85(3):1016-1028.

PMID: 32036442 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-020-01300-9.

Emotional Influences on Cognitive Flexibility Depend on Individual Differences: A Combined Micro-Phenomenological and Psychophysiological Study.

Vasquez-Rosati A, Montefusco-Siegmund R, Lopez V, Cosmelli D Front Psychol. 2019; 10:1138.

PMID: 31178787 PMC: 6543930. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01138.

The Dissociable Effects of Induced Positive and Negative Moods on Cognitive Flexibility.

Hsieh S, Lin S Sci Rep. 2019; 9(1):1126.

PMID: 30718767 PMC: 6362281. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-37683-4.

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