Title |
Emotional Stroop task: effect of word arousal and subject anxiety on emotional interference
|
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Published in |
Psychological Research, July 2008
|
DOI | 10.1007/s00426-008-0154-6 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Thomas Dresler, Katja Mériau, Hauke R. Heekeren, Elke van der Meer |
Abstract |
Inconsistent findings regarding the emotional Stroop effect in healthy subjects may be explained by confounding effects of stimulus valence and arousal, as well as individual differences in anxiety. We examined reaction time data in a healthy sample using the emotional Stroop task while carefully matching arousal level of positive and negative words. Independent of valence, emotional relative to neutral words elicited emotional interference, indicating that arousal determines emotional interference. Independent of valence, emotional words were better re-called and recognized than neutral words. Individual differences in state anxiety were associated with emotional interference, that is, emotional interference was enhanced in subjects with high state anxiety. There was no influence of trait anxiety. These findings indicate that word arousal produces emotional interference independent of valence. State anxiety exacerbates interference of emotional words by further biasing attention towards emotionally salient stimuli. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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Unknown | 1 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Members of the public | 1 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Germany | 2 | <1% |
Switzerland | 1 | <1% |
Turkey | 1 | <1% |
Malaysia | 1 | <1% |
United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
Canada | 1 | <1% |
China | 1 | <1% |
Puerto Rico | 1 | <1% |
Japan | 1 | <1% |
Other | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 444 | 98% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Bachelor | 154 | 34% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 63 | 14% |
Researcher | 47 | 10% |
Student > Master | 45 | 10% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 20 | 4% |
Other | 57 | 13% |
Unknown | 69 | 15% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 290 | 64% |
Neuroscience | 16 | 4% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 10 | 2% |
Social Sciences | 9 | 2% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 9 | 2% |
Other | 42 | 9% |
Unknown | 79 | 17% |