Does a high working memory capacity attenuate the negative impact of trait anxiety on attentional control? Evidence from the antisaccade task

Abstract

According to attentional control theory, high trait anxious individuals experience reduced attentional control as compared to low trait anxious individuals due to the imbalance between goal-directed and stimulus-driven attentional systems. One consequence is that high trait anxious individuals have difficulty resisting distraction, as compared to low trait anxious individuals. A separate line of research on individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) has shown that individuals with higher WMC have better attentional control and thus are better able to resist distraction. The present study investigated the hypothesis that high WMC compensates for high trait anxiety in a task that evaluates the ability to resist distraction, the antisaccade task. Participants completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to measure trait anxiety and the Operation Span and Reading Span tasks to measure WMC. As hypothesised, individuals who were high trait anxious exhibited increased attentional control on the antisaccade task when they had high WMC. Theoretical implications and directions for future research are discussed.