The current study aims to examine the mechanisms underlying the negative impact of anxiety on task-switching. Todo so, we employed a stochastic diffusion model analysis along with a thought-probe technique in task-switching paradigm.Across 152 participants, we found state anxiety was associated to higher switch costs in nondecision time but not drift rateparameter of diffusion model, implying that the locus of task-switching impairment in anxious individuals is pertinent to theefficiency of task-set reconfiguration but not proactive interference processes. Furthermore, we found boundary separationparameter – which quantifies conservative decisional styles – heightened as a function of anxiety, supporting the existence ofcompensatory strategy in anxious individuals. Lastly, we found that impaired performance by anxiety was not attributed tothe frequency of worrisome thoughts during task-switching. These findings elucidate several theoretical assumptions on therelationship between anxiety and task-switching.

The negative consequences of smartphone usage have seen frequent discourse in popular media. While existing studies seek to resolve these debates in relation to executive functions, findings are still mixed, partly due to the lack of conceptual clarity, the use of self-reported measures, and task impurity. Addressing these limitations, the current multi-session study utilizes latent variable approaches to examine various smartphone usage, including objectively measured data-logged screen time and screen-checking, and 9 executive function tasks in 260 young adults. Our structural equation models showed no evidence that self-reported normative smartphone usage, objective screen time and objective screen-checking are associated with deficits in executive functions. Only self-reported problematic smartphone usage was associated with deficits in latent factor of task-switching. These findings shed light on the boundary conditions of the link between smartphone usage and executive functions and suggest that smartphone usage in moderation may not have inherent harms on cognitive functions.

Emotions are linked to wide sets of action tendencies, and it can be difficult to predict which specific action tendency will be motivated or indulged in response to individual experiences of emotion. Building on a functional perspective of emotion, we investigate whether anger and shame connect to different behavioral intentions in dignity, face, and honor cultures. Using simple animations that showed perpetrators taking resources from victims, we conducted two studies across eleven countries investigating the extent to which participants expected victims to feel anger and shame, how they thought victims should respond to such violations, and how expectations of emotions were affected by enacted behavior. Across cultures, anger was associated with desires to reclaim resources or alert others to the violation. In face and honor cultures, but not dignity cultures, shame was associated with the desire for aggressive retaliation. However, we found that when victims indulged motivationally-relevant behavior, expected anger and shame were reduced, and satisfaction increased, in similar ways across cultures. Results suggest similarities and differences in expectations of how emotions functionally elicit behavioral responses across cultures.