Distractor Task Research Articles

PIT study: research into the Protocol Imaginary execuTion of self-injury

IntroductionSelf-injury, defined as inflicting damage or pain to one’s own body, is a way to deal with unbearable emotions. Unfortunately, it can become addictive through the rewarding effect, and this makes it also really hard to stop with this destructive behavior. Currently, there is a lack of specific treatments.ObjectivesThe aim of the research is to investigate whether the “Protocol imaginary execution of self-damaging behavior” leads to a reduction of self-damaging behavior and the urge to self-damaging behavior.MethodsWe have investigated the “Protocol Imaginary execuTion of self-injury” as a potential treatment for self-injury. In this protocol the patient is asked to imagine he/she is performing the self-injury and at the same time a distracting task is offered. This ensures the working memory is double burdened as is with EMDR. We expected a reduction of patient’s self-injurious behavior. For this study, a single-case experimental design with 11 clinical patients is used, aimed to investigate whether there is a functional relationship between the treatment, the urge to self-injure and the frequency and seriousness of the self-injury. Data are analyzed with a multivariate analysis. The results of this study will contribute to expanding and improving treatment options for self-injury.ResultsAt the moment the results are not yet available, but they will be known in April 2022.ConclusionsRespondents indicate that they experience more control over self-injurious behaviour. We hope to have confirmed this in April 2022 with the analyzed data.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Distracted when Using Driving Automation: A Quantile Regression Analysis of Driver Glances Considering the Effects of Road Alignment and Driving Experience

Background: SAE Level 2 driving automation, the state-of-the-art in commercial vehicles, requires drivers to monitor the environment to resume vehicle control when automation limits are surpassed. However, this type of driving automation was found to increase distraction engagement. Although experienced drivers were shown to better regulate their visual engagement in distracting activities when driving with and without automation, the moderating effects of road demands (e.g., road alignment) have yet to be explored in detail, in particular, for driving with automation.Objective: To better understand the combined effects of road alignment, driving automation, and driving experience, we investigated the effects of these factors on driver glances to a visual-manual distraction task.Method: We present a secondary analysis, using quantile regression, of two previously reported driving simulator experiments. A total of 32 participants’ data, 16 from each experiment, were utilized. Half of these participants were novice and the other half were experienced drivers. The first experiment focused on non-automated driving, while the second focused on driving with adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assistance systems combined (i.e., SAE Level 2). The analysis reported here focuses on drivers’ visual distraction engagement in two highway drives that were identical across the two experiments.Results: With driving automation, compared to experienced driver glances, the duration of novice driver glances to the distraction task was more variable, longer, and less sensitive to variations in road alignment.Implications: These findings suggest that, with driving automation, novice drivers are more at risk of inappropriate engagement in distractions and do not adapt to road demands as well as experienced drivers, and thus should be supported accordingly.

The effect of distraction versus post-event processing on cortisol recovery in individuals with elevated social anxiety

There are preliminary findings that repetitive thinking on social situations (post-event processing; PEP) is associated with impaired cortisol recovery after experiencing social evaluative stressors. However, no studies have examined the effect of experimental manipulation of PEP on cortisol recovery among socially anxious individuals. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of distraction on cortisol recovery following a social-evaluative stressor in individuals with subclinical social anxiety symptoms. A total of 40 participants, who scored >30 on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, completed a standardized stress test (the Trier Social Stress Test; TSST). They were then randomized to complete either a 10-min distraction or PEP induction task. Subjective anxiety and salivary cortisol levels were assessed at −20, −10, 0, +10, +20, +30, +40, and +50 min, with respect to the TSST offset. Contrary to the hypothesis, no difference in cortisol recovery was observed between distraction induction and PEP induction. These findings suggest that short-term distraction induction may not be sufficient to promote cortisol recovery in individuals with elevated social anxiety.

Articulatory suppression during instruction encoding impedes performance in choice reaction time tasks

Theories of instruction following assume that language contributes to our ability to understand and implement instructions. The two experiments reported here investigated that assumption. Participants (total N = 96) were required to learn a series of novel tasks, with each task consisting of six arbitrary stimulus-response rules. All tasks were preceded by an instruction phase (a visual depiction of the correct stimulus-response rules for each task), during which participants performed a verbal distractor task (articulatory suppression), a non-verbal distractor task (foot tapping) or no distractor task. Additionally, the duration of the instruction phase was varied so that it was either long (60 s) or short (30 s in Experiment 1, or 10 s in Experiment 2). In both experiments participants made more errors when they had performed articulatory suppression during the instruction interval, compared to the foot tapping and no distractor task conditions. Furthermore, Experiment 2 found that this detrimental effect of articulatory suppression was especially pronounced with a very short instruction duration. These findings demonstrate that language plays a crucial role in the encoding of novel task instructions, especially when instructions are encoded under time pressure.

Influence of cannabis use history on the impact of acute cannabis smoking on simulated driving performance during a distraction task

Objective: This research explores the driving performance of people who use cannabis daily or occasionally during distraction tasks performed following acute cannabis use. Methods: Healthy adults aged 25 to 45 years with different cannabis usage histories were recruited to participate in a within-subjects controlled experiment using a car-based driving simulator. Participants were classified as having daily use (n = 31), occasional use (1 or 2 times per week; n = 24), or no-use (n = 30). Participants completed a practice drive followed by four 5–10 minute driving scenarios during the baseline period. Participants then smoked self-procured cannabis flower ad libitum for up to 15 minutes. Thirty minutes later, they completed four additional 5–10 minute scenarios. Scenarios were paired according to difficulty and randomized across the baseline and post-use periods. Each scenario contained between 0 and 3 repetitions of a distraction task where the participant was prompted by an audio message to select an app from a 4 × 5 grid displayed on a mounted tablet, a step that would require briefly looking away from the roadway. Measures of driving performance (lane departures, standard deviation of lateral position) were assessed during the five-second period following the audio trigger and analyzed using generalized linear mixed models. Results: Those with a pattern of occasional use were significantly more likely to experience a lane departure during distraction periods after acute cannabis use relative to baseline (OR = 3.71, p = 0.04, CI = 1.04, 13.17), while those with daily use did not exhibit a similar increase (OR = 1.56, p = 0.43, CI = 0.52, 4.64). Changes in departure risk were significantly greater for the occasional use group compared to no-use (p = 0.02), but not for the daily use group compared to no-use (p = 0.18). However, following acute use, those who use daily exhibited decreases in speed relative to baseline in comparison to the changes observed in the no-use group (p = 0.02), while differences between occasional and no-use did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.052). Differences in standard deviation of lateral position were not statistically significant, likely due to the short duration of tasks. Conclusions: These results find the largest potential safety concerns associated with a pattern of occasional use, who displayed an increase in lane departures after acute cannabis smoking. Those in the daily use group decreased their speed, which may be interpreted as compensation for drug effects. Further research is needed to understand the effects during longer and more complex secondary tasks.

Anthocyanin intake is associated with improved memory in older adults with mild cognitive impairment

Research on the role of dietary anthocyanins in preventing cognitive decline in older adults shows promise. This study investigated the association between usual anthocyanin intake and indices of memory and cognition in 40 older adults diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment that were recruited to a randomized clinical trial. It was hypothesized that daily anthocyanin intake would be similar to healthy older adults and that higher anthocyanin intake would be associated with better cognitive performance. Cognitive performance was assessed using a battery of tests including the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Dietary intake was assessed through 3-day food records and anthocyanin intake was quantified using the PhenolExplorer food composition database. Multivariate linear regression compared differences in cognitive performance between higher (>10 mg/d) and lower consumers (<10 mg/d). Overall, participants had low median intake of anthocyanins (5.3; interquartile range [IQR], 32.1 mg/d), with the lower consumer group eating negligible anthocyanins (median, 0.13; IQR, 1.5 mg/d), and the higher consumer group eating above the national average (median, 35.5; IQR, 71.5 mg/d). On the RAVLT, the higher anthocyanin consumer group recalled a greater number of words after a short delay and a distracter task (B, 2.07; standard error [SE], 0.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.18-3.96; P = .03) and longer delay of 20 minutes (B, 2.68; SE, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.43-4.94; P = .02); and forgot less words after a long delay of 20 minutes (B, –2.63; SE, 0.63; 95% CI, –3.90 to –1.35; P< .001). Further investigation of the protective role of the usual consumption of dietary anthocyanins for memory and cognition in pathological and normal aging appears warranted.Trial registration: This cross-sectional study uses baseline data from a randomized controlled trial registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12618001184268).

Looking out or Looking Away?—Exploring the Impact of Driving With a Passenger on Young Drivers’ Eye Glance Behavior

Objective To explore how passenger presence and the degree of association between young driver and passenger influences young drivers’ eye glance behavior when they are subjected to distraction. Background Young drivers (18–20 years old) are at an elevated crash risk when subjected to distraction. They are likely to be distracted even further when they drive with passengers. However, the eye glance behavior of these drivers when driving with passengers has not been explored. Method Eye glance data of 34 young drivers between the ages of 18 and 20 years were collected. Participants drove with and without a passenger while subjected to three distracting tasks (visual-manual, cognitive, or visual-cognitive) and driving scenarios that required driver attention. Results Visual-cognitive as well as visual-manual states of distraction result in higher mean and standard deviation of glance duration, along with higher number of glances away from road. Passenger presence is found to negatively influence young drivers’ eye glance behavior. The degree of association between the young driver and the passenger may help reduce the deviation of eye glances towards the task-related objects. Conclusion In addition to distraction, passengers have a negative influence on the eye glance behavior of young drivers. However, a high degree of association between driver and passenger may mitigate the negative impact of distraction on the eye glance behavior of young drivers. Application (non-theoretical works) This research may aid in the design of interventions that improve young drivers’ eye glance behavior when they drive with their peers.

High working memory load impairs reappraisal but facilitates distraction – An event-related potential investigation

The present experiments investigated the impact of working memory (WM) load on emotion regulation (ER) efficacy using reappraisal (Experiment 1, n = 30) and distraction (Experiment 2, n = 30). Considering that WM is necessary for storage, elaboration, and manipulation of information and that reappraisal acts by storing, elaborating, and manipulating the stimulus meaning, we hypothesized that high (versus low) WM-load would reduce reappraisal efficacy. By contrast, given that distraction acts by blocking elaborated processing of the stimulus meaning, we expected that high WM-load would enhance distraction efficacy. To test these predictions, we employed a dual-task paradigm in which a low- or high WM-load task was combined with an ER (reappraisal or distraction) task. We measured the Late Positive Potential (LPP)–an electrocortical marker of sustained motivated attention, and a well-established index of emotional arousal–in response to negative pictures. Results confirmed that although reappraisal successfully reduced the LPP amplitude in the down- compared to up-regulation condition in low WM-load trials, high WM-load eliminated this difference, suggesting the disrupting influence of high WM-load on ER for reappraisal (Experiment 1). By contrast, although distraction failed to modulate the LPP amplitude in low WM-load trials, the difference between down- and no-regulation conditions was significant when distraction was combined with high WM-load, suggesting the facilitatory influence of high WM-load on ER for distraction (Experiment 2). Our findings show that the effect of WM-load on ER is strategy-dependent, and that the availability of WM resources is an important situational moderator of ER efficacy in healthy young adults.

Spinal Nociception is Facilitated during Cognitive Distraction

The nociceptive withdrawal reflex (NWR) is a behavioral response to protect the body from noxious stimuli. The spatial characteristics of the stimulus modulate the reflex response to prevent damage to the affected tissue. Interneurons in the deep dorsal horn in the spinal cord encode the relationship between stimulus characteristics and the magnitude of the NWR and are also likely integrating spatial information of the nociceptive stimulus. The aim of this study was to use the NWR to investigate whether the spinal spatial integration of a simultaneous stimulus is modulated by shifting the attention of the participant towards (attention) or away from (distraction) the stimulus. We hypothesized that the descending activity shapes the receptive fields of the spinal neurons encoding spatial integration of nociception. Twenty healthy volunteers participated in the study. Single and simultaneous stimuli were delivered through two stimulating electrodes located in the arch and on the lateral side in the sole of the foot. The NWR was quantified by electromyography from the Tibialis Anterior and Biceps Femoris muscles during baseline and active tasks (attention and distraction). During the baseline task, spatial summation of the NWR was evoked during simultaneous stimulation. During the distraction task, the NWR was significantly larger compared to baseline, regardless of the sites being stimulated (single and simultaneous stimuli). In contrast, the NWR recorded during the attention task did not differ from baseline. These results further support that the spinal NWR pathway is under descending control which can be modulated by cognitive processes. The NWRs recorded over both proximal and distal muscles were similarly affected by the tasks, suggesting that the descending control affects the lower leg spinal system, with no discrimination between spinal segments.

Balance capacity influences the effects of conscious movement processing on postural control in older adults.

Older adults rely increasingly on conscious processes to control balance. While this could be in response to age-related declines in balance capacity, it is unclear whether such strategy is adaptive or not. We investigated whether balance capacity modified the effects of conscious movement processing (CMP) on postural control in older adults. Forty-seven older adults (Mage=74.8, range=61-88) completed 60-s, narrow-stance balance trials on a force platform, under conditions designed to increase (high-CMP; through movement-monitoring instructions) or reduce conscious processing (low-CMP; distraction task). Balance capacity was operationalised as a composite score of Berg Balance Scale and Timed-up-and-Go. Balance capacity influenced the effects of the CMP manipulation on mediolateral sway amplitude (p=.023). Specifically, it positively associated with sway amplitude during the high-CMP condition (β=0.273), but not low-CMP condition (β=-0.060). In other words, higher balance capacity was associated with increased sway during high-CMP, confirming our hypothesis that CMP does not uniformly negatively impact balance performance. Rather, CMP was maladaptive for those with better balance. Results also indicated that older adults' balance capacity influenced the degree to which they could engage conscious or automatic postural control processes. Specifically, we found that, overall, participants showed reduced mediolateral sway frequency and complexity for the high-CMP vs. low-CMP condition (p's≤0.018), indicating reduced automaticity of balance (as expected). However, these effects were significantly attenuated as balance capacity reduced (i.e., smaller changes in those with lower balance capacity, p's<0.010). Hence, the ability to readily shift between conscious and automatic modes of postural control seems more constrained as balance becomes worse. Overall, these findings suggest clinicians need to consider older adults' balance capacity when using providing instructions or feedback likely to influence CMP within rehabilitation settings.

Resilience predicts posttraumatic cognitions after a trauma reminder task and subsequent positive emotion induction among veterans with PTSD. Correction to Szabo et al. (2022).

Using a quasi-experimental design, we examined the association between trait resilience and state PTCs in veterans with PTSD (n = 47, Mage = 48.60, 91.8% male) at two points: following a written trauma narrative exposure (Time 1 [T1]), and following a subsequent positive distraction task (i.e., brief, positive video; Time 2 [T2]). After controlling for PTSD symptom severity and combat exposure, resilience was negatively associated with PTCs at T1 (ΔR2 = .19) and T2 (ΔR2 = .13). However, resilience was a poor predictor of change in PTCs from T1 to T2. We also examined the relationship between resilience and subtypes of PTCs: resilience was associated with negative views of the self (T1, ΔR2 = .24) but not negative views of the world or self-blame (T1, ΔR2s ≤ .07); these results were consistent at T2. Thus, resilience may attenuate negative trauma-related cognitions after trauma recall; however, this study was not designed to test causal pathways. Future research could examine whether resilience-building exercises reduce negative PTCs after trauma reminders among veterans. Additional research is needed to generalize to other trauma-exposed populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Resilience predicts posttraumatic cognitions after a trauma reminder task and subsequent positive emotion induction among veterans with PTSD.

Using a quasi-experimental design, we examined the association between trait resilience and state PTCs in veterans with PTSD (n = 47, Mage = 48.60, 91.8% male) at two points: following a written trauma narrative exposure (Time 1 [T1]), and following a subsequent positive distraction task (i.e., brief, positive video; Time 2 [T2]). After controlling for PTSD symptom severity and combat exposure, resilience was negatively associated with PTCs at T1 (ΔR2 = .19) and T2 (ΔR2 = .13). However, resilience was a poor predictor of change in PTCs from T1 to T2. We also examined the relationship between resilience and subtypes of PTCs: resilience was associated with negative views of the self (T1, ΔR2 = .24) but not negative views of the world or self-blame (T1, ΔR2s ≤ .07); these results were consistent at T2. Thus, resilience may attenuate negative trauma-related cognitions after trauma recall; however, this study was not designed to test causal pathways. Future research could examine whether resilience-building exercises reduce negative PTCs after trauma reminders among veterans. Additional research is needed to generalize to other trauma-exposed populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

No trait anxiety influences on early and late differential neuronal responses to aversively conditioned faces across three different tasks

The human brain's ability to quickly detect dangerous stimuli is crucial in selecting appropriate responses to possible threats. Trait anxiety has been suggested to moderate these processes on certain processing stages. To dissociate such different information-processing stages, research using classical conditioning has begun to examine event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to fear-conditioned (CS +) faces. However, the impact of trait anxiety on ERPs to fear-conditioned faces depending on specific task conditions is unknown. In this preregistered study, we measured ERPs to faces paired with aversive loud screams (CS +) or neutral sounds (CS −) in a large sample (N = 80) under three different task conditions. Participants had to discriminate face-irrelevant perceptual information, the gender of the faces, or the CS category. Results showed larger amplitudes in response to aversively conditioned faces for all examined ERPs, whereas interactions with the attended feature occurred for the P1 and the early posterior negativity (EPN). For the P1, larger CS + effects were observed during the perceptual distraction task, while the EPN was increased for CS + faces when deciding about the CS association. Remarkably, we found no significant correlations between ERPs and trait anxiety. Thus, fear-conditioning potentiates all ERP amplitudes, some processing stages being further modulated by the task. However, the finding that these ERP differences were not affected by individual differences in trait anxiety does not support theoretical accounts assuming increased threat processing or reduced threat discrimination depending on trait anxiety.

Perceived risk vs actual driving performance during distracted driving: A comparative analysis of phone use and other secondary distractions

The present study attempts to explore the association of drivers’ risk perception towards phone usage as well as other everyday distractions (operating a music player and eating during driving), and their driving performance observed during these distracted conditions. For this purpose, driving simulator experiments were conducted with 90 participants to collect their driving performance data and a questionnaire was conducted to obtain their basic details along with their risk perceptions. Firstly, the driving performance was divided into clusters using hierarchical clustering and the clustered subgroups were compared for crash and non-crash cases to identify the groups having significant performance degradation. Based on this comparison, the driving performance subgroups were then divided into the following crash risk probabilities: High risk, Moderate risk and Low risk. Further, the associations of perceived risk with these performance subgroups and other potential factors were analyzed using association rules mining technique. Most of the drivers (72.06%) reported texting as an extremely risky task. But, surprisingly none of them considered conversation as an extremely risky task. However, in case of conversation, it was found that even though the professional drivers reported the task to be not at all risky, the observed crash risk was high for them (S = 5.21%, C = 67.86%), indicating an underestimation of the associated risk by the drivers. Similarly, the results revealed that for music player and eating tasks, drivers reported the distracting tasks to be less risky, but, in some instances, their driving performance was associated with higher chances of crash occurrence. Many interesting associations of risk perception and driving performance with respect to demographic and driving characteristics were also obtained. The findings can be useful while designing the awareness programs related to distracted driving with an aim to reduce such practices.

Retrieval practice enhances learning and memory retention of French words in Chinese-English bilinguals

Numerous previous studies have indicated that retrieval practice promotes foreign language learning more than repeated studying. However, few studies have investigated whether retrieval practice enhanced a third language (L3) learning and memory retention. Here, we compared the behavioral performance in retrieval practice with that in repeated studying in French (L3) words learning. Sixty-two Chinese-English bilinguals participated in the experiment consisting of three sessions. Session one began with an initial encoding phase with 120 French (L3) – English (L2) translation word pairs, followed by a short distractor task. In session two, the 120 French-English word pairs from session one were studied under retrieval practice condition or repeated studying condition. The final recognition memory test was conducted after a 30-min retention interval. We found that retrieval practice enhanced French words learning more than repeated studying, as reflected by higher recognition accuracy in retrieval practice condition. The results suggest that retrieval practice is a powerful mnemonic enhancer in promoting L3 vocabulary learning, and it is an effective strategy in learning a new language. However, students rarely realize the important role of retrieval practice in foreign language learning.

How does language support the acquisition of novel cognitive tasks? Investigating the role of task complexity and task instructions.

Recent findings have shown that language plays an important role in the acquisition of novel cognitive tasks (van 't Wout & Jarrold, 2020). The current study sought to elucidate the factors that influence the contribution of language to novel task learning, focusing specifically on the role of task complexity (defined by the number of stimulus-response [S-R] rules per task) and the role of task instructions (by comparing trial-and-error learning to instruction-based learning). In each experiment participants were required to learn the correct response to novel sets of picture stimuli. When analyzed as a function of stimulus occurrence within a task, both experiments found that initial performance was worse under articulatory suppression (AS; verbal distractor task) than under foot tapping (i.e., nonverbal distractor task), but only if the task was more complex (consisting of 6S-R rules) and not if it was less complex (consisting of three or four S-R rules), suggesting that the acquisition of a simpler task by trial and error might not require verbal mediation. Experiment 2 furthermore found that the role of language was modulated by the manner of acquisition: For trial-and-error learning, the detrimental effect of AS increased and then decreased again as a function of stimulus occurrence. Conversely, for instruction-based learning, AS exclusively affected the first few stimulus occurrences, suggesting that participants can create a verbal representation of the task during the instruction phase. Together, these experiments demonstrate that the role of language in novel task learning is modulated by task complexity and task instructions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of a Cognitive Distraction Task on Gait Mechanics in Recently Gait-Retrained Runners

Runners who received cadence retraining (CAD) did not alter cadence, but had increased loadrates when distracted. Runners who received footstrike retraining (FFS) did not alter foot angle or loadrates while distracted. However, both increases and decreases were found in cadence and foot angle in response to distraction.

Restricted Access to Working Memory Does Not Prevent Cumulative Score Improvement in a Cultural Evolution Task.

Some theories propose that human cumulative culture is dependent on explicit, system-2, metacognitive processes. To test this, we investigated whether access to working memory is required for cumulative cultural evolution. We restricted access to adults’ working-memory (WM) via a dual-task paradigm, to assess whether this reduced performance in a cultural evolution task, and a metacognitive monitoring task. In total, 247 participants completed either a grid search task or a metacognitive monitoring task in conjunction with a WM task and a matched control. Participants’ behaviour in the grid search task was then used to simulate the outcome of iterating the task over multiple generations. Participants in the grid search task scored higher after observing higher-scoring examples, but could only beat the scores of low-scoring example trials. Scores did not differ significantly between the control and WM distractor blocks, although more errors were made when under WM load. The simulation showed similar levels of cumulative score improvement across conditions. However, scores plateaued without reaching the maximum. Metacognitive efficiency was low in both blocks, with no indication of dual-task interference. Overall, we found that taxing working-memory resources did not prevent cumulative score improvement on this task, but impeded it slightly relative to a control distractor task. However, we found no evidence that the dual-task manipulation impacted participants’ ability to use explicit metacognition. Although we found minimal evidence in support of the explicit metacognition theory of cumulative culture, our results provide valuable insights into empirical approaches that could be used to further test predictions arising from this account.

Validation of a battery of inhibitory control tasks reveals a multifaceted structure in non-human primates.

Inhibitory control, the ability to override an inappropriate prepotent response, is crucial in many aspects of everyday life. However, the various paradigms designed to measure inhibitory control often suffer from a lack of systematic validation and have yielded mixed results. Thus the nature of this ability remains unclear, is it a general construct or a family of distinct sub-components? Therefore, the aim of this study was first to demonstrate the content validity and the temporal repeatability of a battery of inhibitory control tasks. Then we wanted to assess the contextual consistency of performances between these tasks to better understand the structure of inhibitory control. We tested 21 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta, 12 males, nine females) in a battery of touchscreen tasks assessing three main components of inhibitory control: inhibition of a distraction (using a Distraction task), inhibition of an impulsive action (using a Go/No-go task) and inhibition of a cognitive set (using a Reversal learning task). All tasks were reliable and effective at measuring the inhibition of a prepotent response. However, while there was consistency of performance between the inhibition of a distraction and the inhibition of an action, representing a response-driven basic form of inhibition, this was not found for the inhibition of a cognitive set. We argue that the inhibition of a cognitive set is a more cognitively demanding form of inhibition. This study gives a new insight in the multifaceted structure of inhibitory control and highlights the importance of a systematic validation of cognitive tasks in animal cognition.

Profiles of undergraduates’ networks addiction: Difference in academic procrastination and performance

Social networks are a source of distraction in personal, academic, and professional tasks. In the university context, they can lead to academic procrastination behaviour and undermine students’ academic performance. The aims of this study are a) to identify profiles of students with similar values in excessive use, lack of control and obsession with social networks, and b) analyse whether there are significant differences in procrastination behaviours and academic performance of the identified profiles. A total of 1784 students from 24 Spanish universities took part in the study. The Social Network Addiction Questionnaire and the Spanish version of the Procrastination Assessment Scale-Student test were used. Profiles were identified through Latent Profile Analysis and differences between groups were analysed through the three-step Bolck-Croon-Hagenaars method. The results showed three profiles regarding the excessive use of social networks: low addiction, moderate addiction and high addiction. Significant differences were found between the three latent profiles in academic procrastination, showing that the higher the addiction to social networks, the higher the procrastination behaviour. However, there were no significant differences between the groups with respect to academic performance. In conclusion, although the addiction to social networks is related to procrastination behaviour, it is considered that they could be a useful resource in the initial training process of undergraduates.