Tuning in to anxiety-related differences in attentional control: Apprehension of threat improves template switching during visual search.

Berggren, Nick; Eimer, Martin · 2021 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1037/emo0000962

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Summary

This study investigates how anxiety influences the "tuning-in" aspects of attentional control, specifically the ability to maintain and switch between attentional templates during visual search. While existing research predominantly focuses on how anxiety impairs "tuning-out" processes (inhibiting irrelevant information), there is limited understanding of its impact on focusing attention on relevant targets. The authors aimed to determine whether trait anxiety and induced apprehensive mood affect the efficiency of maintaining single or multiple target templates and the costs associated with switching between them. The experiment involved 50 participants who performed visual search tasks under "safe" and "threat" conditions. In the threat condition, participants were exposed to occasional loud, aversive noise bursts to induce apprehension. Trait anxiety was measured via the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Participants engaged in two types of search tasks: a one-color search, where they looked for a constant target color, and a two-color search, where they searched for one of two possible colors. The latter task allowed for the analysis of template switch costs by comparing reaction times on trials where the target color remained the same ("stay" trials) versus trials where it changed ("switch" trials). Trials involving noise presentation and the subsequent trial were excluded to isolate sustained apprehension effects from transient arousal. The results indicated that trait anxiety had no significant effect on search performance or template switch costs. However, induced apprehension significantly altered performance. Reaction times were generally faster in threat blocks compared to safe blocks. Crucially, induced apprehension reduced the switch costs in the two-color search task. While switch costs were present in both conditions, they were substantially smaller in threat blocks (24 ms) than in safe blocks (45 ms). This reduction was driven by faster reaction times on switch trials in the threat condition, with no significant difference on stay trials. Error rates did not differ significantly between conditions or tasks. These findings suggest that acute apprehension can paradoxically improve the efficiency of switching attentional templates during visual search. The authors propose that this benefit may stem from impaired inhibitory processes; since maintaining multiple templates involves suppressing non-target templates, reduced inhibition under threat may facilitate faster switching. In contrast, trait anxiety appears to primarily affect "tuning-out" mechanisms rather than the "tuning-in" processes examined here. The study highlights a dissociation between the effects of state and trait anxiety on attentional control, suggesting that induced apprehension enhances flexibility in coordinating visual search goals, potentially by attenuating the suppression of competing templates.

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• stress arousal performance