Effects of rewards and punishments on inhibition for individuals with trait anxiety / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

Objective: To explore the effects of motivation of rewards and punishments on inhibitory control on college students with trait anxiety and non-trait anxiety. Methods: In the current study, stroop task was used to induce the cognitive conflic and then performance comparison was made between traitanxiety and non-trait anxiety college students in completing Stroop tasks with or without rewards and punishments. Results: The results showed that the response time of the trait anxiety group was shorter than that of the non-trait anxiety group. For both trait and non-trait anxiety subjects, the reaction time under the incongruent condition was significantly longer than that under the congruent and unrelated condition; the reaction time under the congruent condition was significantly shorter than that under the unrelated condition. For all subjects, the reaction time under the reward and punishment condition was significantly shorter than that under the non-reward and punishment condition. The Stroop effect under reward and punishment condition was significantly smaller than that under no reward and punishment condition. The response time of the trait anxiety group under the condition of punishment was significantly shorter than that under the condition of non-reward and punishment and the condition of reward. The response time of the non-trait anxiety group under the reward condition was significantly shorter than that under the punishment condition and the non-reward and punishment condition. Conclusion: Trait anxiety individuals were sensitive to punishments, while non-trait anxiety individuals were sensitive to rewards. Both reward and punishment could strengthen the inhibition control of the individuals.