Article Version of Record

Anticipated attack slows responses in a cued virtual attack emotional Sternberg Task

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Gladwin, Thomas E.
Vink, Matthijs

Abstract / Description

Threatening stimuli have varying effects, including reaction time (RT) increase in working memory tasks. This could reflect disruption of working memory or, alternatively, a reversible state of freezing. In the current series of experiments, reversible slowing due to anticipated threat was studied using the cued Virtual Attack Emotional Sternberg Task (cVAEST). In this task visually neutral cues indicate whether a future virtual attack could or could not occur during the maintenance period of a Sternberg task. Three studies (N = 47, 40, and 40, respectively) were performed by healthy adult participants online. The primary hypothesis was that the cVAEST would evoke anticipatory slowing. Further, the studies aimed to explore details of this novel task, in particular the interval between the cue and probe stimuli and the memory set size. In all studies it was found that threat anticipation slowed RTs on the working memory task. Further, Study 1 (memory set size 3) showed a decrease in RT when the attack occurred over all Cue Stimulus Intervals (CSIs). In Study 2 a minimal memory set of one item was used, under which circumstances RTs following attacks were only faster shortly after cue presentation (CSI 200 and 500 ms), when RTs were high for both threat and safe cues. Study 3 replicated results of Study 2 with more fine-grained time intervals. The results confirm that anticipation of attack stimuli can reversibly slow responses on an independent working memory task. The cVAEST may provide a useful method to study such threat-induced response slowing.

Keyword(s)

emotional Sternberg threat inhibition freezing cued attack anticipation

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2021-02-26

Journal title

Europe's Journal of Psychology

Volume

17

Issue

1

Page numbers

31–43

Publisher

PsychOpen GOLD

Publication status

publishedVersion

Review status

peerReviewed

Is version of

Citation

Gladwin, T. E., & Vink, M. (2021). Anticipated attack slows responses in a cued virtual attack emotional Sternberg Task. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 17(1), 31-43. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.1896
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Gladwin, Thomas E.
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Vink, Matthijs
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2022-04-14T11:20:18Z
  • Made available on
    2022-04-14T11:20:18Z
  • Date of first publication
    2021-02-26
  • Abstract / Description
    Threatening stimuli have varying effects, including reaction time (RT) increase in working memory tasks. This could reflect disruption of working memory or, alternatively, a reversible state of freezing. In the current series of experiments, reversible slowing due to anticipated threat was studied using the cued Virtual Attack Emotional Sternberg Task (cVAEST). In this task visually neutral cues indicate whether a future virtual attack could or could not occur during the maintenance period of a Sternberg task. Three studies (N = 47, 40, and 40, respectively) were performed by healthy adult participants online. The primary hypothesis was that the cVAEST would evoke anticipatory slowing. Further, the studies aimed to explore details of this novel task, in particular the interval between the cue and probe stimuli and the memory set size. In all studies it was found that threat anticipation slowed RTs on the working memory task. Further, Study 1 (memory set size 3) showed a decrease in RT when the attack occurred over all Cue Stimulus Intervals (CSIs). In Study 2 a minimal memory set of one item was used, under which circumstances RTs following attacks were only faster shortly after cue presentation (CSI 200 and 500 ms), when RTs were high for both threat and safe cues. Study 3 replicated results of Study 2 with more fine-grained time intervals. The results confirm that anticipation of attack stimuli can reversibly slow responses on an independent working memory task. The cVAEST may provide a useful method to study such threat-induced response slowing.
    en_US
  • Publication status
    publishedVersion
  • Review status
    peerReviewed
  • Citation
    Gladwin, T. E., & Vink, M. (2021). Anticipated attack slows responses in a cued virtual attack emotional Sternberg Task. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 17(1), 31-43. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.1896
  • ISSN
    1841-0413
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/5304
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.5908
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Publisher
    PsychOpen GOLD
  • Is version of
    https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.1896
  • Is related to
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.4618
  • Keyword(s)
    emotional Sternberg
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    threat
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    inhibition
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    freezing
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    cued
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    attack
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    anticipation
    en_US
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    Anticipated attack slows responses in a cued virtual attack emotional Sternberg Task
    en_US
  • DRO type
    article
  • Issue
    1
  • Journal title
    Europe's Journal of Psychology
  • Page numbers
    31–43
  • Volume
    17
  • Visible tag(s)
    Version of Record
    en_US