Research Seminar
Cognitive control processes and psychological functioningMadeline PeKU Leuven | |
| Abstract: | A growing literature shows that the ability to control affective information in working memory (WM) plays an important role in emotional functioning. Whereas most research has focused on WM processes relating to emotion dysregulation and mood disorders, few, if any, have looked at WM processes associated with adaptive psychological functioning. In this presentation, we examined the relationship of such processes with both rumination and heightened negative affect (Study 1) and subjective well-being or happiness (Study 2). In Study 1, we found that participants who had a more difficult time resolving interference from negative information compared to both neutral and positive information (using an affective proactive interference task) also had a more heightened experience of negative affect when they ruminate in daily life. In Study 2, we found that participants who were better at retaining and updating positive information in WM, even in the face of distracting negative stimuli, displayed higher levels of satisfaction with life and affect balance, both at the trait level and in daily life. These results give us important insights into the cognitive processes that may perpetuate both psychopathology and subjective well-being. |
| Date: | Tue Oct 18, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm |
| Place: | room 01.07 (Department of Psychology, Tiensestraat 102, 3000 Leuven) |