Effects of Trait Anxiety on Error Processing and Post-error Adjustments: An Event-Related Potential Study With Stop-Signal Task.

The present study aimed to use event-related potentials with the stop-signal task to investigate the effects of trait anxiety on inhibitory control, error monitoring, and post-error adjustments. The stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) was used to evaluate the behavioral competence of inhibitory control. Electrophysiological signals of error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe) were used to study error perception and error awareness, respectively. Post-error slowing (PES) was applied to examine the behavioral adjustments after making errors. The results showed that SSRT and PES did not differ significantly between individuals with high trait anxiety (HTA) and those with low trait anxiety (LTA). However, individuals with HTA demonstrated reduced ERN amplitudes and prolonged Pe latencies than those with LTA. Prolonged Pe latencies were also significantly associated with poorer post-error adjustments. In conclusion, HTA led to reduced cortical responses to error monitoring. Furthermore, inefficient conscious awareness of errors might lead to maladaptive post-error adjustments.

Contextual Factors and Mastery Motivation in Young Children with and without Cerebral Palsy: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Mastery motivation is the driving force behind children's desire to explore the surrounding world and their comprehensive development. However, disease factors may lower a child's motivation and hamper development. The aim of this review is to examine mastery motivation in preschool children with cerebral palsy (CP) and the impact of contextual factors on mastery motivation. METHODS: Six electronic databases were searched (PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, PsycINFO, Medline, and Airiti Library) using the keywords "Activity," "Cerebral Palsy," "Preschool," "Motivation," "Mastery motivation," "Gross motor," and "Toddler." We reviewed six observational studies and one interventional study for the following features: (1) participants' characteristics; (2) assessment, observation, and intervention methods; (3) findings. RESULTS: Of the seven studies, three were individual cohort studies and four were individual case-control studies. There were two types of motivation-related measures, standardized measurements and observations of structured tasks or free play. Three studies showed no significant difference in mastery motivation between children with and those without CP when given mental-age-appropriate tasks of moderate difficulty. However, environmental factors including social experience, family interaction, and caregivers' perceptions may affect motivation in preschool children with CP. CONCLUSION: Current studies on mastery motivation in preschool children with CP are very limited, and the lack of a universal, theory-based definition of mastery motivation and common assessment frameworks makes it difficult to draw clear conclusions on mastery motivation in children with CP. Future studies should investigate mastery motivation with rigorous study designs to identify ideal activities and environments for preschool children with CP.