Attention control, memory updating, and emotion regulation temporarily reduce the capacity for executive control. Academic Article

abstract

• This research tested the hypothesis that initial efforts at executive control temporarily undermine subsequent efforts at executive control. Four experiments revealed that controlling the focus of visual attention (Experiment 1), inhibiting predominant writing tendencies (Experiment 2), taking a working memory test (Experiment 3), or exaggerating emotional expressions (Experiment 4) undermined performance on subsequent tests of working memory span, reverse digit span, and response inhibition, respectively. The results supported a limited resource model of executive control and cast doubt on competing accounts based on mood, motivation, or task difficulty. Prior efforts at executive control are a significant contextual determinant of the operation of executive processes.

authors

• Schmeichel, Brandon

published proceedings

• J Exp Psychol Gen

altmetric score

• 4

author list (cited authors)

• Schmeichel, B. J

citation count

• 461

complete list of authors

• Schmeichel, Brandon J

publication date

• May 2007

publisher

• American Psychological Association (APA)  Publisher

published in

• Journal of Experimental Psychology: General  Journal

keywords

• Affect
• Attention
• Cognition Disorders
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Memory
• Neuropsychological Tests
• Social Control, Informal
• Time Factors

PubMed Central ID

• 17500649

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1037/0096-3445.136.2.241

start page

• 241

end page

• 255

volume

• 136

issue

• 2

URL

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.136.2.241