Abstract

1. When More Anxiety Is Better? The Influence Of Working Memory Capacity on Perception of Negative Mood LaSheena Barnes, Samantha DeDionisio, Paris Norwood (Dawn Blasko) Penn State Erie, The Behrend College Abstract Negative experiences in life can affect our moods and can inhibit our ability to function. The present study examined whether working memory capacity and trait anxiety influenced the change in mood induced by extremely negative pictures. Participants were exposed to picture stimuli ranging from neutral to strongly negative, then asked to solve an easy or difficult math problem. Participants then rated their current mood on a nine point Likert scale. A State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and a measure of working memory capacity were also completed. We found that picture type interacts with math type and those with lower working memory rated their mood lower overall. • Discussion • The valance rating of the pictures did significantly affect the mood of our participants, with strongly negative pictures resulting in the lowest mood ratings. • There was a significant interaction between picture type and task difficultly. However, the more difficult math task did not reduce the influence of the negative mood. • Contrary to hypothesis their was no interaction between picture type, task difficulty and working memory. If working memory was not sufficiently loaded, then the reduction of negative mood would be unlikely to occur. • The math task might have been either too easy to take up working memory. • Alternatively both math tasks may have been difficult perhaps because only 4 seconds was allowed. This would explain why mood ratings in the difficult math task were somewhat lower for all of the picture types. • Students in the United states often score lower on international tasks of mathematical ability. Van Dillen, and Koole’s sample were from the Netherlands where math scores may be higher. • Participants may have anchored their responses differently. Van Dillen use a neutral to negative scale and we used a positive to negative scale. • Future Research • Investigate situations where loading working memory may • improve mood • Conduct the study in different cultures • Examine the possible protective effects of religiosity • Investigate the potential therapeutic application of mood valence reduction. Method Procedure: Informed Consent Demographics Survey State - Trait Anxiety Inventory Working memory Operational Span Task (2*2) + 1 = 5 disk Picture Viewing Task Neutral Mildly Negative Strongly Negative Simple 10/5 = 5 or Complex Math (9/3) + 4 = 17 Mood Rating 1 (Strongly Negative) . . . . . . 9 (Strongly Positive Measures Operational Span Task (Davelaar, Hannon and Richards, 1989) (2*2) + 1 = 5 disk State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, 2008) I feel pleasant I feel nervous and restless Picture Viewing Task: International Affective Picture System (Lang & Bradley, 1997) 60 neutral, 30 mildly negative, 30 strongly negative Math task Mood rating ***4 seconds for each section Participants 120 Participants: 80% female Race: 88% Caucasian Religion: 54% Roman Catholic 7% with psychological disorders 12% with mood disorders • Introduction • Anxiety may hinder our ability to perform • at an optimal level, e.g. Test anxiety, and • Phobias • Working memory can be impaired by anxiety (Ashcraft & Kirk, 2001). Math anxiety loads working memory. Decreases math performance • Clinical depression can lead to negative rumination within an individual. This is turn can lead to poor working memory • Are there cases where loading working memory can decrease negative mood (Van Dillen & Koole, 2007)? • Design • Picture Negativity • Neutral • Mildly Negative • Strongly Negative • Task Complexity • Simple math • Complex math • Mood ratings • 1 (not at all) . . . . . . . . . . 9 (very much) • Results showed that Increasing task load  decrease in negative mood • Present Study • In the current study we replicated and extended the work of Van Dillen and Koole by adding individual difference measures of Working Memory and Anxiety. • Hypotheses • Complex math tasks will provide more of distraction from negative mood than easier math tasks. • 2. Individuals with high working memory capacity will experience a lesser distraction from negative mood. • 3. Individuals with high trait anxiety will experience more of a distraction from negative mood. • 4. Individuals with low working memory capacity & high trait anxiety will experience the most distraction from negative mood when completing a difficult math task. Hypothesis 1 H1 Complex math tasks will provide more of distraction from negative mood than easier math tasks There was a Math Complexity x Picture Negativity interaction, F (2, 117) = 4.666, p = .010. However, if difficult math was to provide adequate distraction, we would expect the mood ratings after the strongly negative picture with difficult math condition to be almost as high as the mildly negative picture with difficult math condition. Hypothesis 2 H 2 Individuals with high working memory capacity will experience a lesser distraction from negative mood. There was no significant 3-way interaction between WM, task difficulty and picture negativity, F (2, 117) = 1.451, p = .237 • References • Ashcraft, M., Kirk, E. (2001). The Relationships Among Working Memory, Math Anxiety, and Performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology. 103 (2), 224 – 237. • Spielberger, C. (2008). State – Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults. Retrieved December 7, 2008, from mind garden Website: http://www.mindgarden.com/products/staisad.htm • Van Dillen, L., Koole, S. (2007). Clearing the Mind: A Working Memory Model of Distraction From Negative Mood. Emotion: 7 (4), 715 – 723. • Hypothesis 4 • H4 Individuals with low working memory capacity & high trait anxiety will experience the most distraction from negative mood when completing a difficult math task • There was no significant 4-way interaction between WM, anxiety, task complexity, and picture negativity, F (2, 96) = 1.242, p = .291 • We would expect the mean mood rating after the strongly negative picture with difficult math condition to be highest for individuals with low working memory capacity and high anxiety. Results do not show this trend. Hypothesis 3 H3 Individuals with high trait anxiety will experience more of a distraction from negative mood There was no significant interaction between anxiety, task difficulty, and picture negativity, F (2, 96) = .586, p =.557 • Acknowlegements • Penn State Undergraduate Student Research Grant Program 2008/2009 • Many thanks to Dr. Dawn Blasko for her guidance throughout this project!