| Title: |
Impact of Active and Latent Concerns about COVID-19 on Attention |
| Language: |
English |
| Authors: |
Sisk, Caitlin A. (ORCID 0000-0002-3868-9232), Toh, Yi Ni, Jun, Jihyang, Remington, Roger W., Lee, Vanessa G. |
| Source: |
Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications. 2022 7. |
| Availability: |
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/ |
| Peer Reviewed: |
Y |
| Page Count: |
19 |
| Publication Date: |
2022 |
| Document Type: |
Journal Articles
Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: |
Pandemics, COVID-19, Attention Control, Emotional Response, Correlation, Physics, Task Analysis, Short Term Memory, Visual Perception, Cognitive Ability |
| DOI: |
10.1186/s41235-022-00401-w |
| ISSN: |
2365-7464 |
| Abstract: |
The interactions between emotion and attention are complex due to the multifaceted nature of attention. Adding to this complexity, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the emotional landscape, broadly heightening health and financial concerns. Can the heightened concerns about COVID-19 impair one or more of the components of attention? To explore the connection between heightened concerns about COVID-19 and attention, in a preregistered study, we collected survey responses from 234 participants assessing levels of concerns surrounding COVID-19, followed by four psychophysics tasks hypothesized to tap into different aspects of attention: visual search, working memory, sustained attention, and cognitive control. We also measured task-unrelated thoughts. Results showed that task-unrelated thoughts, but not survey reports of concern levels, negatively correlated with sustained attention and cognitive control, while visual search and working memory remained robust to task-unrelated thoughts and survey-indicated concern levels. As a whole, these findings suggest that being concerned about COVID-19 does not interfere with cognitive function unless the concerns are active in the form of task-unrelated thoughts. |
| Abstractor: |
As Provided |
| Entry Date: |
2022 |
| Accession Number: |
EJ1337671 |
| Database: |
ERIC |
