Individual Differences in Uncertainty Tolerance Are not Associated With Cognitive Control Functions in the Flanker Task.

Abstract

Cognitive control refers to the ability to make correct decisions concurrent to distracting information, and to adapt to conflicting stimulus configurations, eventually promoting goal-directed behavior. Previous research has linked individual differences in cognitive control to psychopathological conditions such as anxiety. However, a link with uncertainty tolerance (UT) has not been tested so far, although both constructs describe cognitive and behavioral performance in ambiguous situations, thus they share some similarities. We probed cognitive control in web-based experimentation (jsPsych) with a simple flanker task (N=111) and a version without confounds in episodic memory (N=116). Both experiments revealed two well-established behavioral indices: congruency effects (CEs) and congruency-sequence effects (CSEs). Only small-to-zero correlations emerged between CEs, UT, and need for cognitive closure (NCC), a personality trait inversely related to UT. A subtle correlation (r=.18) was noted in Experiment 2 between NCC and CSE. Throughout, Bayesian analyses provided anecdotal-to-moderate evidence for the null-hypotheses.