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The influence of punishment anticipation on inhibitory control processing in individuals with test anxiety
1Department of Psychology, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
Abstract:
Using the event-related potential (ERP) method combined with the monetary incentive delay task and arrow Flanker Task, this study investigated the impact of varying punishment anticipation on inhibitory control processing in individuals with test anxiety. Results revealed that during the cue processing, compared to individuals with low test anxiety (LTA), individuals with high test anxiety (HTA) exhibited more negative cue-N2 and CNV amplitudes under high punishment conditions. In the inhibitory control processing, under high punishment conditions, HTA individuals showed more negative N2 amplitudes in incongruent trials compared to LTA individuals. Under no-punishment conditions, HTA individuals demonstrated more positive P3 and conflict SP amplitudes in incongruent trials. The study suggests that excessive punishment anticipation for failure consequences may constitute the mechanism underlying inhibitory control deficits in individuals with HTA. These findings provide a new perspective for understanding the inhibitory control deficits in HTA and offer foundations for targeted interventions.
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