Writing about a stressful experience can impair visual working memory.
PLoS One
; 19(7): e0304406, 2024.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38968241
ABSTRACT
Acute stress has been well-established to impair working memory. However, less is known about how writing about an unresolved stressor may influence working memory or working memory processes. We addressed these issues in the present study (N = 282) by randomly assigning participants to write about an unresolved stressful experience (stressful writing condition or the events of the previous day). We then both measured performance on a change detection task and used computational modeling to estimate the processes underlying performance attention, capacity, and guessing bias. We found that, relative to the control condition, writing about a stressful experience impaired change detection task performance and significantly impaired task attention. These results show that the effects of writing about an unresolved stressor may mimic the effects of acute stress on working memory, rather than conforming to expectations from mood-as-information theory.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Stress, Psychological
/
Writing
/
Memory, Short-Term
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
PLoS One
Journal subject:
CIENCIA
/
MEDICINA
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: