Does distraction reduce pain-produced distress among college students?
College students in four experiments placed their hands in ice water (the cold-pressor task) and reported their distress. They simultaneously engaged in different reaction-time (RT) tasks that varied in the amount of attention required for successful performance. In each experiment, which differed in numerous procedural details, RT, error-rate, and self-report measures all demonstrated that the distraction tasks differed in the degree of attention required. Greater distraction, however, failed to reduce physiological, self-report, or behavioral responses to the cold-pressor task. These data call into question the hypothesis that attention mediates the process whereby distraction tasks reduce pain-produced distress.
McCaul
K D
KD
Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Fargo 58105.
Monson
N
N
Maki
R H
RH
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001288:Attention; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis