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Distracted by cues for suppressed memories.
Paula T Hertel1, Jeffrey A Hayes2
1Trinity University phertel@trinity.edu.
Psychological Science
|April 24, 2015
Summary
Suppressing negative thoughts can impair performance on unrelated tasks. This cognitive cost, known as thought suppression, affects unrelated task performance and memory recall.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Memory Research
Background:
- Thought suppression is a cognitive control strategy.
- The impact of suppressing negative thoughts on unrelated tasks is not fully understood.
- Previous research highlights memory effects of suppression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the performance costs associated with suppressing negative thoughts.
- To examine how suppression of negative thoughts affects unrelated task performance.
- To explore the relationship between suppression-induced forgetting and performance costs.
Main Methods:
- Participants engaged in a think/no-think procedure to suppress negative thoughts.
- Homographs with negative meanings served as suppression cues.
- These cues were presented as flankers in an unrelated emotional valence judgment task.
- Response times and recall were measured.
Main Results:
- Suppression cues, compared to baseline cues, delayed target word responses.
- This delay occurred only after direct suppression instructions.
- Suppression-induced forgetting correlated positively with the flanker effect.
- Target valence ratings were influenced by flanker valence, not prior suppression role.
Conclusions:
- Practicing thought suppression incurs a performance cost on unrelated tasks.
- Direct suppression instructions amplify this cognitive burden.
- Suppression-induced forgetting is linked to the observed performance deficits.
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