title: The impact of rumination on internal attention switching.
abstract: The present study explored the nature of attention control problems associated with ruminative traits. Experiment 1 aimed to establish the validity of a modified mental counting task that assesses individuals' ability to switch attention between internal mental representations. Reaction time and brain activity (event related potential; ERP) measures were examined, and results showed that the task was sensitive to internal attention switching effects. Experiment 2 assessed how the relationship between ruminative tendencies and switching performance differs when participants attend to neutral versus affective materials under different mood states. Although reaction-time analysis suggested that both mood condition and stimulus affectivity were not significant in altering this association, ERP analysis suggested otherwise. A significant task type×trait rumination × mood condition effect was found for switch-related ERP responses, whereby high ruminators were found to deploy more neuronal resources when switching affective materials in sad mood state.
authors: Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors: Barbara
authors: B
authors: Chuen Yee Lo
authors: Shun
authors: S
authors: Lau
authors: Sing-hang
authors: SH
authors: Cheung
authors: Nicholas B
authors: NB
authors: Allen