Better not to deal with two tasks at the same time when stressed? Acute psychosocial stress reduces task shielding in dual-task performance.
A major control demand in successful dual-task performance is the task-specific separation of task-goal representations and of the related stimulus-response translation processes. In the present study, we investigated how these cognitive control processes of task shielding are affected by acute psychosocial stress. Fifty-six healthy participants were exposed to either an acute psychosocial stressor (the Trier Social Stress Test) or a standardized control situation prior to a dual task. Task shielding was assessed by analyzing the interference of Task 2 processing on prioritized Task 1 performance. Following successful stress induction, as indicated by increases in salivary α-amylase (sAA) and cortisol that reflect increases in sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, respectively, stressed individuals displayed reduced task shielding relative to controls. This result was further substantiated by a correlation between treatment-related increase in cortisol, but not sAA, and between-task interference, suggesting a potential role of the HPA stress response for the development of the observed effects. As an additional finding, when the volunteers were categorized with regard to their action-state orientation, their orientation did not interact with stress but did reveal generally increased between-task interference, and thus inferior task shielding, for state-oriented as compared to action-oriented individuals.
Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany. plessow@biopsych.tu-dresden.de
Franziska
F
Plessow
Susann
S
Schade
Clemens
C
Kirschbaum
Rico
R
Fischer
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003071:Cognition; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000503:physiopathology; D011930:Reaction Time; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D055291:Salivary alpha-Amylases / Q000378:metabolism; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis
D055291:Salivary alpha-Amylases; D006854:Hydrocortisone