Effects of Cognitive Load on Attentional Bias under Stress Induction

Son, Won Hee; Choi, Yun-Kyeung · 2025 · Crossref

DOI: 10.17547/kjsr.2025.33.4.216

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Summary

This study investigated whether visuo-spatial cognitive load modulates threat-related attentional bias during experimentally induced stress. While cognitive load is theorized to either reduce attentional bias by competing for working memory resources or increase it by impairing top-down attentional control, prior findings have been inconsistent. Furthermore, most previous research treated attentional bias as a single construct, failing to distinguish between its underlying mechanisms: initial orientation toward threat and subsequent disengagement from it. This research aimed to clarify these mechanisms by manipulating cognitive load levels and decomposing attentional bias indices in a stress-induced context. Seventy-two undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to either a stress-induction group (SIG), which viewed a graphic road-traffic-accident video, or a control group (CG). Participants then completed a dot-probe task incorporating three levels of visuo-spatial task demand: no load (NVTD), low load (LVTD), and high load (HVTD). The HVTD condition required participants to memorize and later recognize complex spatial dot patterns while performing the probe task, thereby taxing visuo-spatial working memory. Attentional bias was measured using three indices: the standard Attentional Bias Index (sABI), the Orientation Index (OI), and the Disengagement Index (DI). Results indicated a significant main effect of group for both sABI and OI, but no significant main effects or interactions involving visuo-spatial task demand. Across all cognitive load conditions, the SIG demonstrated significantly greater threat-related attentional bias and stronger orientation toward threat stimuli compared to the CG. Specifically, the SIG showed consistent vigilant orientation, whereas the CG exhibited avoidance tendencies under high load. However, no significant differences were found for the Disengagement Index (DI); both groups showed facilitated disengagement, and cognitive load did not influence this mechanism. The findings suggest that under stress, individuals exhibit heightened automatic orientation toward threat stimuli regardless of concurrent cognitive load. This implies that visuo-spatial working memory load did not buffer against or exacerbate the initial capture of attention by threat cues in this paradigm. The study highlights the importance of distinguishing between orientation and disengagement mechanisms, as stress primarily affects the initial orienting response rather than the ability to disengage. Clinically, these results suggest that interventions for stress-related disorders should focus less on preventing initial threat detection and more on enhancing the ability to rapidly reorient attention to goal-directed tasks after initial capture, particularly in high-load environments.

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• stress arousal performance

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• Theoretical Contribution: theory or model