Understanding the Impact Stressors Have On Cognitive Control

The purpose of the Cognitive Control and Emotion EEG study is to better understand how emotional stress (i.e., threat) may influence the cognitive process a person uses to effectively respond to visual stimuli. One goal is to determine the effect of shock on an individual\u27s proactive and reactive cognitive control processes. Results from this study will inform our understanding of how a person\u27s ability to keep a task\u27s goal in mind is impaired by an ongoing stressor. The two paradigms used in this experiment to measure proactive and reactive processes are the Flanker Task and the AX Task. The Flanker Task is used to achieve an estimate of a person\u27s reactive control without a threat being present. Reactive control is the process of responding to a stimulus without keeping a relevant task goal in mind. This baseline measure of reactive control will be used to predict a participant\u27s performance on the following AX Task.The AX Task measures both reactive and proactive control; the process of responding to a stimulus when there is a task goal in mind. An electrical stimulation will be presented to induce stress during the threat blocks of the AX task, and will be set at a level by the participant that is painful,but tolerable. We predict an ongoing stressor will decrease the participant\u27s ability to use proactive control and therefore rely on reactive control. We also predict their baseline reactive control performance will influence how they respond during the AX Task. Once there is an understanding as to how a stressor may affect a person, one can then gain insight as to how a person who experiences stress may process and respond to their environment