Personality and Cognitive Performance

• Authors: Fajkowska Malgorzata , Eysenck Michael W.
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The two experiments reported here are concerned with the influence of trait anxiety and other individual differences on cognitive performance using the face-in-the-crowd procedure. Participants completed questionnaires (EPQ-R; STAI; Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale) and across two experiments searched for discrepant faces in matrices of otherwise identical faces (in Experiment 1: threatening, happy, neutral targets against emotional or neutral backgrounds, and in Experiment 2: threatening, happy, sad and scheming targets against neutral distractors). The key findings from this study indicated that anxiety enhanced processing efficiency of positive emotional material when interacts with high psychoticism. Additionally, the vigilance for threatening and neutral faces was a characteristic of sanguine individuals with repressive coping while inefficient processing of threatening and neutral stimuli of non-defensive melancholic subjects. These results are discussed with reference to attentional control theory (Eysenck, Derakshan, Santos, & Calvo, 2007).

Keywords

EN

ANXIETY; ATTENTIONAL CONTROL THEORY; FACIAL STIMULI; PEN; PERSONALITY COHERENCE VS. INCOHERENCE

Discipline

• PSYCHOLOGY: PSYCHOLOGY

• Publisher: Committee for Psychological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Polish Psychological Bulletin
• Year: 2008
• Volume: 39
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 178-191
• Physical description: source-id: PPB_39_4\D033605NHU082217.xml
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Fajkowska Malgorzata

author

Eysenck Michael W.

• Malgorzata Fajkowska, Instytut Psychologii PAN, ul. Chodakowska 19/31, 03-815 Warszawa, Poland

References

• Asendorpf, J. A., & Scherer, K. R. (1983). The discrepant repressor: Differentiation between low anxiety, high anxiety, and repression of anxiety by autonomic-facial-verbal patterns of behaviour.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 1334-1344.
• Badley, A. D. (2001). Is working memory still working?American Psychologist, 56, 851-864.
• Baddeley, A. D. (1986).Working memory.Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Borkovec, T. (1994). The nature, functions and origins of worry. In G. Davey & F. Tallis (Eds.),Worrying: Perspectives on theory, assessment and treatment(pp. 5-34). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
• Bower, G. H. (1981). Mood and memory.American Psychologist, 36, 129-148.
• Bradley, B. P., Mogg, K., White, J., Groom, C. & de Bono, J. (1999). Attentional bias for emotional faces in generalised anxiety disorderBritish Journal of Clinical Psychology, 38, 267-278.
• Byrne, A., & Eysenck, M. W. (1995). Trait anxiety, anxious mood, and threat detection.Cognition and Emotion, 9, 549-562.
• Bullen, J. G. & Himsley, D. R. (1984). Psychoticism and visual recognition threshold.Personality and Individual Differences, 5, 633-648.
• Clore, G. L., Gasper, K. & Garvin, E. (2001). Affect as information. In J. P. Forgas (ed.),Handbook of Affect and Social Cognition.Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Coifman, K. G., Bonanno, G. A., Ray, R. D. & Gross, J. J. (2007). Does repressive coping promote resilience? Affective-autonomic responses discrepancy during bereavement.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 745-758.
• Collette, F., & Van der Linden, M. (2002). Brain imaging of the central executive component of working memory.Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 26, 105-125.
• Corbetta, M., & Shulman, G. L. (2002). Control of goal-directed and stimulus-driven attention in he brain.Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 3, 201-215.
• Crowne, D. P., & Marlowe, D. A. (1960). A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology.Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24, 349-354.
• Derakshan, N., Eysenck, M. W., & Myers, L. B. (2007). Emotional information processing in repressors: the vigilance-avoidance theory.Cognition and Emotion.
• Derryberry, D. & Reed, M. A. (2002). Anxiety-related attentional biases and their regulation by attentional control.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111 (2), 225-236.
• Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. E. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life.Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 403-425.
• Drwal, R., Ł. & Wilczyńska, J. T. (1980). Opracowanie Kwestionariusza Aprobaty Społecznej.Przegląd Psychologiczny, 23 (3), 569-583. [The elaboration of the Social Desirability Questionnaire]
• Dowens, M., G. & Calvo, M. G. (2003). Genuine memory bias versus response bias in anxiety.Cognition and Emotion17 (6), 843-857.
• Eliasz, A. (1981).Temperament a system regulacji stymulacji.Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe. [Temperament and system of stimulation regulation]
• Eliasz, A. (1985). Transactional model of temperament, In J. Strelau (ed.),Temperamental bases of behavior: Studies on individual differences(pp. 41-78). Lisse: Swets and Zeitlinger.
• Eliasz, A. (1992). Rola interakcji temperamentu i środowiska w rozwoju człowieka, In A. Eliasz & M. Marszał-Wiśniewska (eds.),Temperament a rozwój młodzieży(pp. 11-27). Warszawa: Instytut Psychologii, Polska Akademia Nauk. [Role of temperament and environment interaction in human development]
• Eysenck, H. J. (1967).The biological basis of personality.Springfield: Thomas
• Eysenck, H. J. (1981). General features of the model. In H. J. Eysenck (ed.).A model of personality(pp. 1-37). Berlin: Springer.
• Eysenck, H. J. (1992). The definition and measurement of psychoticism.Personality and Individual Differences, 13, 757-785.
• Eysenck, H. J. & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1975).Manual of Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Jounior and Adult).London: Hodder & Stoughton.
• Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, M. W. (1985).Personality and individual differences.New York: Plenum.
• Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1994). Manual of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire:Comprising the EPQ-Revised (EPQ-R) and EPQ-R Short Scale.San Diego, CA: EdITS.
• Eysenck, M. W. (2006). Teorie lęku i wykonanie zadań poznawczych. In M. Fajkowska, M. Marszał- Wiśniewska & G. Sędek (eds.),Podpatrywanie uczuć i myśli. Zaburzenia i optymalizacja procesów emocjonalnych i poznawczych. Nowe kierunki badań.(pp. 87-100). Gdańsk: GWP. [Theories of anxiety and cognitive performance]
• Eysenck, M. W. (2000). A cognitive approach to trait anxiety.European Journal of Personality, 14, 463-472.
• Eysenck, M. W. (1997).Anxiety and cognition: a unified theory.Hove, UK: Psychology Press.
• Eysenck, M. W. (1992).Anxiety: The cognitive perspective.Hove, UK: Lawrence ErlbaumAssociates Ltd.
• Eysenck, M. W. (1982).Attention and arousal: Cognition and performance.Berlin: Springer Verlag.
• Eysenck, M. W. (1979). Anxiety, learning, and memory: A reconceptualization.Journal of Research in Personality, 13, 363-385.
• Eysenck, M. W., Derakshan, N., Santos, R. & Calvo M. G. (2007). Anxiety and cognitive performance: Attentional control theory.Emotion, 7, 336-353.
• Eysenck, M. W., & Calvo, M. G. (1992). Anxiety and performance: The processing efficiency theory.Cognition and Emotion, 6, 409-434.
• Eysenck, M. W., MacLeod, C., & Mathews, A. (1987). Cognitive functioning an anxiety.Psychological Research, 49, 189-195.
• Fajkowska, M. & Krejtz, I. (2007). Właściwości indywidualne i"efekt twarzy w tłumie". Przegląd Psychologiczny.[Individual properties and‘face in the crowd effect’]
• Fajkowska M. & Krejtz I. (2006). Temperament, lęk i uwagowe przetwarzanie informacji emocjonalnych. In Fajkowska, M. Marszał-Wiśniewska & G. Sędek (eds.).Podpatrywanie uczuć i myśli. Zaburzenia i optymalizacja procesów poznawczych i emocjonalnych.(pp. 45-62). Gdańsk: Gdańskie Wydawnictwo Psychologiczne. [Temperament, anxiety and attentional processing of emotional stimuli]
• Fajkowska, M. & Marszał-Wiśniewska, M. (2006). Depresja i temperament:efekt smutnej twarzy w tłumie.In M. Fajkowska, M. Marszał-Wiśniewska & G. Sędek (eds.).Podpatrywanie uczuć i myśli. Zaburzenia i optymalizacja procesów poznawczych i emocjonalnych.(pp. 63-84). Gdańsk: Gdańskie Wydawnictwo Psychologiczne. [Depression and temperament: sad face in the crowd effect]
• Fajkowska-Stanik, M. & Krejtz, I. (2003). Efekt twarzy w tłumie" - krytyczna analiza. In M. Fajkowska-Stanik, K. Drat-Ruszczak & M. Marszał-Wiśniewska (eds.),Pułapki metodologiczne w badaniach empirycznych z zakresu psychologii klinicznej.(pp.249-262). Warszawa: Wydawnictwo SWPS, Academica. [The critical thoughts on the face in the crowd effect.]
• Fajkowska-Stanik, M. & Marszał-Wiśniewska, M. (2003). Depresja i emocje: ujęcie transakcyjne.Studia Psychologiczne, 41 (1), 107-131. [Depression and emotions: the transactional approach]
• Fajkowska-Stanik, M. (2005). Badanie trafności doboru schematycznych bodźców twarzy.Studia Psychologiczne, 43 (4), 91-99. [Examining a validity of selection of the schematic facial stimuli]
• Folk, Ch., Remington, R. & Johnston, J. C. (1992). Involuntary covert orienting is contingent on attentional control settings.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 18(4), 1030-1044.
• Fox, E. (2008).Emotion Science. Cognitive and neuroscientific approaches to understanding human emotions.Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillian.
• Fox, E. (1993). Allocation of visual attention and anxiety.Cognition and Emotion, 7, 207-215.
• Fox, E., Russo, R., & Georgiou, G. A. (2005). Anxiety modulates the degree of attentive resources required to process emotional faces.Cognitive, Affective, & BehavioralNeuroscience, 5, 396-404.
• Fox, E., Russo R., Bowles R. & Dutton K. (2001). Do threatening stimuli draw or hold visual attention in subclinical anxiety?Journal of Experimental Psychology, 130 (4), 681-700.
• Fox, E., Russo, R., & Dutton, K. (2002). Attentional bias for threat: Evidence for delayed disengagement from emotional faces.Cognition and Emotion, 16, 355-379.
• Hebb, D. O. (1955). Drives and the C. N. S. (conceptual nervous system).Psychological Review, 62, 243-254.
• Hadwin, J., Brogan, J., & Stevenson, J. (2005). State anxiety and working memory in children: A test of processing efficiency theory.Educational Psychology, 25, 379-393.
• Hansen, C. H., & Hansen, R. D. (1988). Finding the face in the crowd: An anger superiority effect.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 917-924.
• Hoge, E. A., Austin, E. D. & Pollack, M. H. (2007). Resilience: research evidence and conceptual considerations for posttraumatic stress disorder.Depression and Anxiety, 24, 139-152.
• Humphreys, M., & Revelle, W. (1984). Personality, motivation, and performance: A theory of the relationship between individual differences and information processing.Psychological Review, 91, 153-184.
• Juth, P., Lunqvist, D., Karlsson, A., & Őhman, A. (2005). Looking for foes and friends: Perceptual and emotional factors when finding a face in the crowd.Emotion, 5, 379-395.
• Lundqvist D., Esteves F. & Öhman, A. (1999). Face of the wrath: Critical features for conveying facial threat.Cognition and Emotion13, 691-711.
• Mackworth, N. H. (1948). The brakedown of vigilance during prolonged visual search.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1,6-21.
• Mackworth, N. H. (1957). Some factors affecting vigilance.Advancements in Science, 53, 389-393.
• MacLeod, C., & Mathews, A. (1988). Anxiety and the allocation of attention to threat.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38A, 659-670.
• Matthews, G. & Margetts, I. (1991). Self-report arousal and divided attention: a study of performance operating characteristics.Human Performance, 4, 107-125.
• Mogg, K. & Bradley, B. (2005). Attentional bias in generalized anxiety disorder versus depressive disorder.Cognitive Therapy and Research, 29, 1, 29-45.
• Mogg, K., Bradley, B. P., Dixon, C., Fisher, S., Twelftree, H., & McWilliams, A. (2000). Trait anxiety, defensiveness and selective processing of threat: An investigation using two measures of attentional bias.Personality and Individual Differences, 28, 1063-1077.
• Mogg, K., Philippot, P. & Bradley, B. (2004). Selective attention to angry faces in a clinical sample with social phobia.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 160-165.
• Myers, L. B. & Derakshan, N. (2004). To forget or not forget:what do repressors forget and when do they forget?Cognition and Emotion, 18, 495-511.
• Myers, L. B., & McKenna, F. P. (1996). The color naming of socially threatening words.Personality and Individual Differences, 20, 801-803.
• Newman, L. S., & McKinney, L. C. (2002). Repressive coping and threatavoidance: An idiographic Stroop study.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 409-422.
• Nęcka, E. (2000).Pobudzenie intelektu. Zarys formalnej teorii inteligencji.Kraków: Towarzystwo Autorów i Wydawców Prac Naukowych UNIVERSITAS. [Aroused intellect. Formal theory of intelligence.]
• Öhman, A. (2005a). Conditioned fear of a face: A prelude to ethnic enmity?Science, 309 (29 July), 711-712.
• Öhman, A. (2005b). The role of the amygdala in human fear: Automatic detection of threat.Psychoneurendocrinology, 30, 952-958.
• Öhman, A. (1993). Fear and anxiety as emotional phenomena: Clinical phenomenology, Evolutionary perspectives, and information processing mechanisms. In M. Lewis and J. M. Haviland (eds.),Handbook of Emotions(pp. 511-536). New York: Guilford.
• Öhman, A. & Dimberg, (1984). An evolutionary perspective on human social behavior. In W. M. Waid (ed.),Sociophysiology(pp. 47-86). New York: Springer.
• Öhman, A., Flykt, A. & Esteves, F. (2001a). Emotion drives attention: detecting the snake in the grass.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 130, 3, 466-478.
• Öhman, A., Lundqvist, D. & Esteves, F. (2001b). The face in the crowd revisited: a threat advantage with schematic stimuli.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology3, 381-396.
• Öhman, A., Hamm, A. O. & Hugdahl, K. (2000). Cognition and the autonomic nervous system. Orienting, anticipation, and conditioning. In J. T. Cacioppo, L. G. Tassinary & G. G. Berston (eds.),Handbook of psychophisiology(pp. 533-575). New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Pavłov, I. P. (1938/1952). Dwadzieścia lat badań wyższej czynności nerwowej (zachowania się) zwierząt. Warszawa: PZWL.
• Pishyar R., Harris, L. M. & Menzies, R. G. (2004). Attenional bias for words and faces in social anxiety.Anxiety, Stress and Copying17 (1),23-36.
• Purcell, D. G., Stewart, A. L., & Skov, R. B. (1996). It takes a confounded face to pop out of a crowd.Perception, 25, 1091-1108.
• Robinson, M. D, & Compton, R. J. (2006) The automaticity of affective reactions: stimulus valence, arousal, and lateral spatial attention.Social Cognition, 24, 4, 469-495.
• Santos, R., Wall, M. B., & Eysenck, M. W. (2007).Anxiety and processing efficiency: fMRI evidence.Manuscript submitted for publication
• Spielberger, C. (1988).State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, Research Edition. Professional Manual.Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
• Strelau J. (2008). Temperament as a regulator of behavior. After fifty years of research. New York: Eliot Werner Publications.
• Szymura, B. (2007).Temperament uwagi.Kraków: Universitats. [Temperament of attention]
• Szymura, B. & Śmigasiewicz, K. (manuscript).Psychoticism and switching of attention.
• Szymura, B. & Nęcka, E. (1998). Visual selective attention and personality: An experimental verification of three models of extroversion.Personality and Individual Differences, 24, 713-729.
• Szymura, B. & Wodniecka, Z. (2003). What really bothers neurotics? In search for factors impairing attentional performance.Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 109-126.
• Van Honk, J., Tuiten, A., de Haan, E., van den Hout, M., & Stam, H. (2001). Attentionalbiases for angry faces: Relationships to trait anger and anxiety.Cognition and Emotion, 15, 279-297.
• Weinberger, D. A., Schwartz, G. E., & Davidson, J. R. (1979). Low-anxious, high-anxious, andrepressive coping styles: Psychometric patterns and behavioural and physiological responses to stress.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88, 369-380.
• Williams J. M. G., Watts F. N., MacLeod C. & Mathews A. (1997). (Eds.).Cognitive psychology and emotional disorders (Second edit.). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
• Wilson, E., & MacLeod, C. (2003). Contrasting two accounts of anxiety-linked attentional bias: Selective attention to varying levels of stimulus threat intensity.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112, 212-218.
• Wrześniewski K. & Sosnowski T. (1996).Inwentarz Stanu i Cechy Lęku (ISCL). Polska adaptacja STAI.Podręcznik. Warszawa: Pracownia Testów Psychologicznych PTP.
• Yiend, J., & Mathews, A. (2001). Anxiety and attention to threatening pictures.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 54A, 665-681.

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

09PLAAAA071018

DOI

10.2478/v10059-008-0025-4