Mental effort during active and passive coping: a dual-task analysis

This study was designed to examine the invested mental effort during active and passive coping by means of performance data. Dual-task performance was measured while subjects coped with a situation, either actively or passively. Thirty-six male students worked on a primary mental arithmetic task (MAT) and a secondary choice reaction time task simultaneously. Half of the sample could avoid an aversive tone by performing well on the MAT. For the remaining half, their performance had no influence on the tone. The aversive tone stimulation of these subjects was yoked to a "partner," in the first group. Subjects with control showed elevated cardiovascular responses and inferior secondary task performance than subjects without control. No differences were found in the performance on the MAT. These results were in line with the assumption that subjects with control spent more effort on the primary task. Subjects under the active coping condition probably payed more attention to the tone, which consumed more cognitive resources.