Attentional bias towards task-irrelevant threatening faces reduces working memory updating efficiency in social anxiety: evidence from the n-back task combining with eye-tracking.
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| Title: | Attentional bias towards task-irrelevant threatening faces reduces working memory updating efficiency in social anxiety: evidence from the n-back task combining with eye-tracking. |
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| Authors: | Liang, Chi-Wen (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Cognition & Emotion. Aug2025, Vol. 39 Issue 5, p1141-1148. 8p. |
| Subjects: | Social anxiety, Attentional bias, Eye tracking, Stimulus & response (Psychology), Cognitive load, Facial expression & emotions (Psychology), Cognitive interference, Short-term memory |
| Abstract: | Anxiety can impair the central executive functioning in working memory (WM). Further, the adverse effect of anxiety on the central executive would be greater when threat-related distractors are present. This study investigated the effect of task-irrelevant emotional faces on WM updating in social anxiety. Forty-one socially anxious (SA) and thirty-nine non-anxious (NA) participants completed an emotional face interference n-back task coupled with eye movement recording. The results showed that, in the 2-back task, SA participants had longer reaction times in the angry-neutral and neutral-neutral interference conditions than in the no-interference condition, whereas NA participants had longer reaction times in the happy-neutral and neutral-neutral interference conditions than in the no-interference condition. In addition, SA participants initially fixated on angry faces more frequently and spent more time looking at them, whereas NA participants initially fixated on happy faces more frequently and spent more time looking at them. This study suggests that attentional bias towards social threats reduces the efficiency rather than effectiveness of WM updating in social anxiety. Moreover, SA individuals are better at resisting interference from task-irrelevant positive stimuli, while NA individuals are better at resisting interference from task-irrelevant threatening stimuli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Cognition & Emotion is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Header | DbId: pbh DbLabel: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection An: 186914100 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Attentional bias towards task-irrelevant threatening faces reduces working memory updating efficiency in social anxiety: evidence from the n-back task combining with eye-tracking. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Liang%2C+Chi-Wen%22">Liang, Chi-Wen</searchLink> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Cognition+%26+Emotion%22">Cognition & Emotion</searchLink>. Aug2025, Vol. 39 Issue 5, p1141-1148. 8p. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+anxiety%22">Social anxiety</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Attentional+bias%22">Attentional bias</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Eye+tracking%22">Eye tracking</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Stimulus+%26+response+%28Psychology%29%22">Stimulus & response (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognitive+load%22">Cognitive load</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Facial+expression+%26+emotions+%28Psychology%29%22">Facial expression & emotions (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognitive+interference%22">Cognitive interference</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Short-term+memory%22">Short-term memory</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Anxiety can impair the central executive functioning in working memory (WM). Further, the adverse effect of anxiety on the central executive would be greater when threat-related distractors are present. This study investigated the effect of task-irrelevant emotional faces on WM updating in social anxiety. Forty-one socially anxious (SA) and thirty-nine non-anxious (NA) participants completed an emotional face interference n-back task coupled with eye movement recording. The results showed that, in the 2-back task, SA participants had longer reaction times in the angry-neutral and neutral-neutral interference conditions than in the no-interference condition, whereas NA participants had longer reaction times in the happy-neutral and neutral-neutral interference conditions than in the no-interference condition. In addition, SA participants initially fixated on angry faces more frequently and spent more time looking at them, whereas NA participants initially fixated on happy faces more frequently and spent more time looking at them. This study suggests that attentional bias towards social threats reduces the efficiency rather than effectiveness of WM updating in social anxiety. Moreover, SA individuals are better at resisting interference from task-irrelevant positive stimuli, while NA individuals are better at resisting interference from task-irrelevant threatening stimuli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Cognition & Emotion is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=pbh&AN=186914100 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1080/02699931.2024.2430402 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 8 StartPage: 1141 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Social anxiety Type: general – SubjectFull: Attentional bias Type: general – SubjectFull: Eye tracking Type: general – SubjectFull: Stimulus & response (Psychology) Type: general – SubjectFull: Cognitive load Type: general – SubjectFull: Facial expression & emotions (Psychology) Type: general – SubjectFull: Cognitive interference Type: general – SubjectFull: Short-term memory Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Attentional bias towards task-irrelevant threatening faces reduces working memory updating efficiency in social anxiety: evidence from the n-back task combining with eye-tracking. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Liang, Chi-Wen IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 08 Text: Aug2025 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 02699931 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 39 – Type: issue Value: 5 Titles: – TitleFull: Cognition & Emotion Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
