Abstract

Attentional processes or concentration of mental faculties is a vast area of research in the cognitive sciences that is complicated by an abundance of other variables. Evidence overwhelming suggests that exogenous attention is biased toward emotional stimuli. Prevailing theories suggest that positive emotions can improve attentional processes, and that a participant’s emotional state can lead people to better attend to congruent information. Systems associated with emotion regulation overlap with processes related to biased attention. This study sought to further explore the theories of broaden and build, and emotion congruence, while also exploring how emotion regulation influences various types of attentional biases. Participants were randomly assigned to a positive, negative, or neutral emotion induction procedure which was followed by a modified emotional cuing paradigm. Self-report and psychophysiological data were collected to assess emotion regulation capabilities. There was no support for the theory of broaden and build or emotion congruence via emotion manipulation. Some evidence was found demonstrating that clinical symptomology was related to attentional engagement and difficulties in disengaging to emotional stimuli, however this was not influenced by a manipulation of subjective emotional state. Emotion regulation neither mediated or moderated attentional biases. Limitations with stimuli presentation time and emotion induction procedures may explain failures to replicate previous research, and future investigation should explore how training in emotion regulation strategies can be used to improve areas of cognition that can be associated with psychopathology

Publication Date

6-27-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Experimental Psychology (MS)

Department, Program, or Center

Psychology, Department of

College

College of Liberal Arts

Advisor

Joseph Baschnagel

Advisor/Committee Member

Tina Sutton

Advisor/Committee Member

Stephanie Godleski

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

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