The Effect of Automatic vs. Reflective Emotions on Cognitive Control in Antisaccade Tasks and the Emotional Stroop Test

Abstract

Abstract The article presents two studies based on the assumption that the effectiveness of cognitive control depends on the subject’s type of emotional state. Inhibitory control is taken into account, as the basic determinant of the antisaccade reactions and the emotional Stroop effect. The studies deal with differentiation of emotions on the basis of their origin: automatic (due to primary affective reactions) vs. reflective (due to deliberative evaluation). According to the main assumption, automatic emotions are diffusive, and decrease the effectiveness of cognitive control. The hypothesis predicted that performance level of both the Antisaccade Task and the Emotional Stroop Test would be lower in the automaticemotion eliciting condition than in the reflective-emotion eliciting condition. In two experimental studies, positive and negative (automatic vs. reflective) emotions were elicited. The results support the predictions, regardless of the valence of emotions.