Performance correlates of self-reported cognitive failure and of obsessionality

In six experiments, two performance tests, measuring a number of aspects of attention, were administered to 129 people from the general population. Self-reported cognitive failure, and a measure of obsessional personality, were related to one particular measure of attention. There was evidence that individuals with low cognitive failure show different patterns of attention when anxious, as compared with high scorers; this may underlie differences in vulnerability to environmental stresses.