The effect of state negative affect on post-error performance recovery

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is linked to post-error performance deficits.
• Heightened negative affect (NA) is presumed to cause impaired performance monitoring after errors.
• The direct link between NA and post-error performance remains untested.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if NA and rumination predict post-error performance in a nonclinical sample.
• To examine the pathway through which negative affect impacts trial-by-trial cognitive control.
• To provide empirical support for the role of NA in post-error difficulties.

Main Methods:

• 124 participants completed measures of dispositional rumination and repeated state NA.
• Participants performed three Eriksen flanker tasks (27 blocks/486 trials each).
• Statistical analyses controlled for reaction time to isolate NA's effect.

Main Results:

• Rumination did not significantly predict post-error performance.
• Elevated state NA predicted worse post-error performance and increased likelihood of consecutive errors.
• These findings persisted after controlling for reaction time, ruling out simple slowing or speed-accuracy trade-offs.

Conclusions:

• State negative affect, not rumination, significantly predicts post-error performance deficits.
• This study provides novel evidence for NA's role in trial-by-trial cognitive control impairments.
• Findings underscore the fundamental role of mood in disrupted cognition and have implications for cognitive control research.