Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

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.