Impacts of trait anxiety on visual working memory, as a function of task demand and situational stress

Abstract

Higher trait anxiety can impair cognitive functioning via attention, but relatively little is known about the impacts on visual working memory. These were investigated using previously validated visual feature binding tasks. In Study 1, participants' memory for visual features (shapes) and feature bindings (coloured shapes) was assessed. Stimulus presentation was simultaneous or sequential, varying attentional demand, and participants were grouped according to trait cognitive anxiety (low, moderate, high). No reliable effect of trait anxiety, either cognitive or somatic, was found on memory accuracy, but moderate trait cognitive anxiety was associated with faster correct response times (i.e. increased efficiency) when stimuli were sequentially presented. In Study 2, the role of situational stress was explored during a simultaneously presented task. Higher trait cognitive and somatic anxiety were both associated with poorer efficiency during both shape and binding memory tasks. Trait somatic anxiety also predicted poorer binding effectiveness (i.e. accuracy), in those reporting higher state cognitive anxiety. Situational stress predicted binding effectiveness, but never interacted with trait anxiety, and was therefore not necessary to observe these trait anxiety-visual working memory relationships. Trait cognitive and somatic anxiety, and situational stress, therefore each influence visual working memory performance.

Adult Aging Moderates the Relationship Between Trait Cognitive Anxiety and Subjective Everyday Cognitive Difficulties

“…Trait somatic anxiety was found to significantly predict perceived cognitive difficulty specifically with language and verbal memory. While some recent evidence suggests that trait somatic anxiety can indeed negatively affect visual working memory (Spalding et al, 2021), spatial working memory (Vytal et al, 2013), and processing speed (Schoen and Holtzer, 2017), the present results are somewhat unexpected in the context of ACT (Eysenck et al, 2007). One possible explanation for this outcome is that trait somatic anxiety also demands attention.…”

“…However, they also examined a potential interaction effect between anxiety and situational stress (by threat of electric shock and ego-threat instructions). Spalding et al (2021) also used the STICSA to assess the impact of anxiety on visual working memory, finding that while both dimensions of trait anxiety affected performance efficiency, only trait somatic anxiety predicted performance accuracy. Schoen and Holtzer (2017) used the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI; Beck et al, 1988), which, like the STICSA, is a measure of daily life, and found somatic, but not cognitive anxiety, to be associated with cognitive performance in older adults.…”

“…This is because anxiety manifests at the cognitive level as subvocalized, worried thoughts (Rapee, 1993;Wells, 1995;Hirsch and Mathews, 2012). Indeed, studies have shown that anxiety affects both verbal fluency and aspects of vocabulary (Salthouse, 2012;Gawda and Szepietowska, 2016), attentional control (Edwards et al, 2015(Edwards et al, , 2017, and working memory efficiency (Held et al, 2020;Spalding et al, 2021). However, self-reported experiences of somatic anxiety can also predict less efficient and effective cognitive performance (Schoen and Holtzer, 2017).…”

“…However, self-reported experiences of somatic anxiety can also predict less efficient and effective cognitive performance (Schoen and Holtzer, 2017). For example, somatic anxiety has been shown adversely to affect visual working memory accuracy (Spalding et al, 2021). Few studies have investigated the distinct effects that the cognitive and somatic dimensions of anxiety may exert on cognition.…”

Can anxiety and race interact to influence face-recognition accuracy? A systematic literature review

“…However, recently, it has been argued that anxiety should be further separated into the dimensions of cognitive anxiety; anxiety symptoms related to thought processes, and somatic anxiety; anxiety related to physiological symptoms [11]. Recent studies have suggested that these dimensions differently impact performance on cognitive tasks [14][15][16]. For instance, anxiety inductions that induce anxiety through physiological anxiety symptoms, such as the 7.5% CO 2 Challenge, due to inducing an unconditioned anxiety response [17,18], have been argued to disrupt face-recognition accuracy to a larger magnitude than cognitive anxiety inductions.…”