Key result
Evaluative pressure increases error rates during high-load working memory tasks, driven by prefrontal overactivation.
Why the study?
The mechanism underlying the influence of psychological pressure on task performance involving prefrontal activation and autonomic arousal was unclear.
Does evaluative pressure affect task performance, prefrontal activation, and autonomic arousal in university students performing working memory tasks?
Does evaluative pressure affect task performance, prefrontal activation, and autonomic arousal in university students performing working memory tasks?
The inhibitory effect of evaluative pressure on high-load working memory task performance appears to be mediated by prefrontal overactivation rather than autonomic arousal.
Alerts clinicians to cognitive risks under evaluative stress; leaves open whether prefrontal-targeted strategies mitigate errors.
To study the mechanism underlying the influence of psychological pressure on task performance, we investigated the relationship between prefrontal activation, autonomic arousal, and performance in an n-back working memory task with 3 load levels (l-, 2-, and 3-back tasks) under evaluative pressure. The tasks were performed by 32 university students with or without evaluative observation by experimenters. The error rate and prefrontal activation were found to increase with pressure only in the highest load task (3-back). In contrast, autonomic arousal increased with pressure regardless of the task condition. Correlation analysis showed a positive correlation of the error rate with prefrontal activation in the 3-back task and no consistent correlation with autonomic arousal. We concluded that the inhibitory effect of evaluative pressure on task performance is mediated by prefrontal overactivation rather than autonomic arousal.
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Ito et al. (2011) studied Psychological pressure (n=32). Evaluative observation by experimenters vs. Without evaluative observation was evaluated on Error rate, prefrontal activation, and autonomic arousal. Evaluative pressure increased error rates and prefrontal activation during high-load working memory tasks, suggesting performance inhibition is mediated by prefrontal overactivation.
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