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Exploring the cognitive load of negative thinking: a novel dual-task experiment
Keisuke Takano1, Yudai Iijima2, Shinji Sakamoto1
1College of Humanities and Sciences, Nihon University, 3-25-40, Sakurajosui Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 156-0045, Japan.
Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
|June 16, 2014
Summary
Females use more attentional resources than males when recalling past negative experiences. This increased cognitive load may impact their ability to control negative thoughts.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Gender Studies
Background:
- Females exhibit higher rates of depression, potentially linked to preoccupation with past negative experiences.
- Limited understanding exists regarding the cognitive mechanisms behind negative autobiographical memory processing in females.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cognitive resources allocated to negative autobiographical information processing.
- To examine gender differences in cognitive load during negative thinking tasks.
Main Methods:
- A dual-task paradigm combining think-aloud and time-estimation tasks was employed.
- Fifty-three Japanese undergraduates recalled emotional past/future episodes and estimated speech duration.
- Judgment errors in time estimation served as an index of cognitive burden.
Main Results:
- Females showed greater time-estimation errors compared to males, especially when recalling negative past experiences.
- These findings suggest females allocate more attentional resources to processing past negative events.
Conclusions:
- Females dedicate more attentional resources to negative past episodes than males.
- This heightened resource allocation may impair central cognitive control, hindering inhibition and cognitive shifting away from negative autobiographical information.
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