Abstract
Social networking sites, especially Facebook, have become increasingly popular over the past decades. However, besides the benefits of using Facebook, negative effects in the form of Facebook intrusion are also increasingly pointed out. Much of the research focuses on personality, emotional and social factors related to Facebook intrusion. However, there has been limited research on the relationship between this type of behavioural addiction and cognitive functioning. Consequently, the current study aimed to verify the relationship between Facebook intrusion and cognitive control in light of the dual mechanism of cognitive control model. Additionally, the study aim was to verify the impact of the Facebook-related context on cognitive control (proactive and reactive modes) compared to neutral and positive contexts. The participants (N = 82 young adults, 57 female, M = 22.24 years, SD = 2.67 years, age range 18–35 years) were divided into two groups based on their level of Facebook intrusion. The Facebook intrusion scale was used to assess the level of Facebook intrusion. The AX-CPT task was used to assess proactive and reactive control modes in three task contexts: Facebook-related, neutral and positive. The current study results show that the participants with high Facebook intrusion had greater reactive control than participants with low Facebook intrusion. The differences between Facebook-related, neutral context and positive context were not found. However, the present findings demonstrate the interaction between Facebook intrusion and task context in cognitive control. More specifically, participants with low Facebook intrusion had greater proactive control than participants with high Facebook intrusion in the Facebook-related and positive context.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability statement
The raw data from the present study is available from the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin repository database (accession link: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12153/2508).
References
Andreassen, C. S., & Pallesen, S. (2014). Social network site addiction—An overview. Current Pharmaceutical Design, 20, 4053–4061. https://doi.org/10.2174/13816128113199990616
Atroszko, P. A., Balcerowska, J. M., Bereznowski, P., Biernatowska, A., Pallesen, S., & Andreassen, C. S. (2018). Facebook addiction among Polish undergraduate students: Validity of measurement and relationship with personality and well-being. Computers in Human Behavior, 85, 329–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.04.001
Błachnio, A., & Przepiórka, A. (2015). Dysfunction of self-regulation and self-control in Facebook addiction. Psychiatric Quarterly, 87, 493–500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-015-9403-1
Błachnio, A., Przepiórka, A., Benvenuti, M., Cannata, D., Ciobanu, A. M., Senol-Durak, E., & Popa, C. (2016). Cultural and personality predictors of Facebook intrusion: A cross-cultural study. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1895. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01895
Brailovskaia, J., & Margraf, J. (2017). Facebook addiction disorder (FAD) among German Students—A longitudinal approach. PLoS ONE, 12, e0189719. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189719
Brailovskaia, J., Schillack, H., & Margraf, J. (2018). Facebook addiction disorder (FAD) in Germany. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 21, 450–456. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2018.0140
Brailovskaia, J., Velten, J., & Margaf, J. (2019). Relationship between daily stress, depression symptoms, and Facebook addiction disorder in Germany and in the United States. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 22(9), 610–614. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2019.0165
Brand, M., Wegmann, E., Stark, R., Müller, A., Wölfling, K., Robbins, T. W., & Potenza, M. N. (2019). The Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model for addictive behaviors: Update, generalisation to addictive behaviors beyond internet-use disorders, and specification of the process character of addictive behaviors. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 104, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.06.032
Brand, M., Young, K. S., Laier, C., Wölfling, K., & Potenza, M. N. (2016). Integrating psychological and neurobiological considerations regarding the development and maintenance of specific Internet-use disorders: An Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 71, 252–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.08.033
Braver, T. S. (2012). The variable nature of cognitive control: A dual mechanisms framework. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16, 106–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2011.12.010
Braver, T. S., Gray, J. R., & Burgess, G. C. (2007). Explaining the many varieties of working memory variation: Dual mechanisms of cognitive control. In A. R. A. Conway, C. Jarrold, M. J. Kane, A. Miyake, & J. N. Towse (Eds.), Variation in Working Memory (pp. 76–106). Oxford University Press.
Braver, T. S., Paxton, J. L., Locke, H. S., & Barch, D. M. (2009). Flexible neural mechanisms of cognitive control within human prefrontal cortex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106, 7351–7356. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0808187106
Chiew, K. S., & Braver, T. S. (2017). Context processing and control in the human brain: from gating models to dual mechanisms. In W. T. Egner (Ed.), The Wiley Handbook of Cognitive Control (pp. 143–166). Wiley.
Cudo, A., Francuz, P., Augustynowicz, P., & Stróżak, P. (2018). The effects of arousal and approach motivated positive affect on cognitive control. An ERP study. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 320. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00320
Cudo, A., Kopiś, N., Francuz, P., Błachnio, A., Przepiórka, A., & Torój, M. (2019). The impact of Facebook use and Facebook intrusion on cognitive control: Effect in proactive and reactive control. Advances in Cognitive Psychology, 15(1), 63–74. https://doi.org/10.5709/acp-0257-6
Cudo, A., Misiuro, T., Griffiths, M. D., & Torój, M. (2020a). The relationship between problematic video gaming, problematic Facebook use, and self-control dimensions among female and male gamers. Advances in Cognitive Psychology, 16(3), 248–267. https://doi.org/10.5709/acp-0301-1
Cudo, A., Misiuro, A., Kopiś, N., Jaśkiewicz, M., & Misiuro, T. (2022). Cognitive functioning and social networking sites addiction—A review. Psychiatria Polska (in press)
Cudo, A., Torój, M., Demczuk, M., & Francuz, P. (2020b). Dysfunction of self-control in Facebook addiction: Impulsivity is the key. Psychiatric Quarterly, 91(1), 91–101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-019-09683-8
Cudo, A., Wojtasiński, M., Tużnik, P., Griffiths, M. D., & Zabielska-Mendyk, E. (2020c). Problematic Facebook use and problematic video gaming as mediators of relationship between impulsivity and life satisfaction among female and male gamers. PLoS ONE, 15(8), e0237610. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237610
Delaney, D., Stein, L. A. R., & Gruber, R. (2018). Facebook addiction and impulsive decision-making. Addiction Research & Theory, 26(6), 478–486. https://doi.org/10.1080/16066359.2017.1406482
Dreisbach, G. (2006). How positive affect modulates cognitive control: The costs and benefits of reduced maintenance capability. Brain and Cognition, 60, 11–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2005.08.003
Duradoni, M., Innocenti, F., & Guazzini, A. (2020). Well-being and social media: A systematic review of Bergen addiction scales. Future Internet, 12(2), 24. https://doi.org/10.3390/fi12020024
Elphinston, R., & Noller, P. (2011). Time to face it! Facebook intrusion and the implications for romantic jealousy and relationship satisfaction. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 14, 631–635. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2010.0318
Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A. G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G* Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39(2), 175–191.
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2014). The differential influences of positive affect, random reward, and performance-contingent reward on cognitive control. Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, 14, 530–547. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-014-0259-x
Gajewski, P. D., & Falkenstein, M. (2013). Effects of task complexity on ERP components in Go/Nogo tasks. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 87(3), 273–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2012.08.007
Gajewski, P. D., Falkenstein, M., Thönes, S., & Wascher, E. (2020). Stroop task performance across the lifespan: High cognitive reserve in older age is associated with enhanced proactive and reactive interference control. NeuroImage, 207, 116430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116430
Gonthier, C., Macnamara, B. N., Chow, M., Conway, A. R., & Braver, T. S. (2016). Inducing proactive control shifts in the AX-CPT. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1822. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01822
Gonthier, C., Zira, M., Colé, P., & Blaye, A. (2019). Evidencing the developmental shift from reactive to proactive control in early childhood and its relationship to working memory. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 177, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2018.07.001
Gratton, G., Cooper, P., Fabiani, M., Carter, C. S., & Karayanidis, F. (2018). Dynamics of cognitive control: Theoretical bases, paradigms, and a view for the future. Psychophysiology, 55(3), e13016. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13016
Griffiths, M. D. (1996). Behavioural addictions: An issue for everybody. Employee Counselling Today: Journal of Workplace Learning, 8, 19–25. https://doi.org/10.1108/13665629610116872
Griffiths, M. D. (2005). A ‘components’ model of addiction within a biopsychosocial framework. Journal of Substance Use, 10, 191–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/14659890500114359
Griffiths, M. D. (2019). The evolution of the ‘components model of addiction’ and the need for a confirmatory approach in conceptualising behavioral addictions. Düşünen Adam the Journal of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences, 32, 179–184.
He, Q., Turel, O., Brevers, D., & Bechara, A. (2017). Excess social media use in normal populations is associated with amygdala-striatal but not with prefrontal morphology. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 269, 31–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pscychresns.2017.09.003
Huang, S., Zhu, Z., Zhang, W., Chen, Y., & Zhen, S. (2017). Trait impulsivity components correlate differently with proactive and reactive control. PLoS ONE, 12(4), e0176102. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176102
Kam, J. W. Y., Dominelli, R., & Carlson, S. R. (2012). Differential relationships between sub-traits of BIS-11 impulsivity and executive processes: An ERP study. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 85, 174–187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2012.05.006
Kropotov, J. D., Ponomarev, V. A., Pronina, M., & Jäncke, L. (2017). Functional indexes of reactive cognitive control: ERPs in cued go/no-go tasks. Psychophysiology, 54(12), 1899–1915. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12960
Lamm, C., Pine, D. S., & Fox, N. A. (2013). Impact of negative affectively charged stimuli and response style on cognitive-control-related neural activation: An ERP study. Brain and Cognition, 83(2), 234–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2013.07.012
Luck, S. J., & Hillyard, S. A. (1994). Electrophysiological correlates of feature analysis during visual search. Psychophysiology, 31(3), 291–308. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.1994.tb02218.x
Mäki-Marttunen, V., Hagen, T., & Espeseth, T. (2019). Proactive and reactive modes of cognitive control can operate independently and simultaneously. Acta Psychologica, 199, 102891. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.102891
Marchewka, A., Żurawski, L., Jednoróg, K., & Grabowska, A. (2014). The Nencki Affective Picture System (NAPS): Introduction to a novel, standardised, wide-range, high-quality, realistic picture database. Behavior Research Methods, 46, 596–610. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-013-0379-1
Marino, C., Gini, G., Vieno, A., & Spada, M. M. (2018a). A comprehensive meta-analysis on problematic Facebook use. Computers in Human Behavior, 83, 262–277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.02.009
Marino, C., Gini, G., Vieno, A., & Spada, M. M. (2018b). The associations between problematic Facebook use, psychological distress and well-being among adolescents and young adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 226, 274–281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.10.007
Mauchly, J. W. (1940). Significance test for sphericity of a normal n-variate distribution. The Annals of Mathematical Statistics, 11(2), 204–209. https://doi.org/10.1214/aoms/1177731915
Merolli, M., Gray, K., & Martin-Sanchez, F. (2013). Health outcomes and related effects of using social media in chronic disease management: A literature review and analysis of affordances. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 46(6), 957–969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2013.04.010
Meshi, D., Elizarova, A., Bender, A., & Verdejo-Garcia, A. (2019). Excessive social media users demonstrate impaired decision making in the Iowa Gambling Task. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 8(1), 169–173. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.7.2018.138
Moreau, A., Laconi, S., Delfour, M., & Chabrol, H. (2015). Psychopathological profiles of adolescent and young adult problematic Facebook users. Computers in Human Behavior, 44, 64–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.045
Moretta, T., & Buodo, G. (2021). Response inhibition in problematic social network sites use: an ERP study. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-021-00879-9 Epub ahead of print.
NapoleonCat. (2021). Facebook users in Poland April 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2021, from: https://napoleoncat.com/stats/facebook-users-in-poland/2021/04
Nieuwenhuis, S., Yeung, N., Van Den Wildenberg, W., & Ridderinkhof, K. R. (2003). Electrophysiological correlates of anterior cingulate function in a go/no-go task: Effects of response conflict and trial type frequency. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 3(1), 17–26. https://doi.org/10.3758/CABN.3.1.17
Redick, T. S. (2014). Cognitive control in context: Working memory capacity and proactive control. Acta Psychologica, 145, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2013.10.010
Richmond, L. L., Redick, T. S., & Braver, T. S. (2015). Remembering to prepare: The benefits (and costs) of high working memory capacity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 41(6), 1764–1777. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000122
Rosvold, H. E., Mirsky, A. F., Sarason, I., Bransome, E. D., Jr., & Beck, L. H. (1956). A continuous performance test of brain damage. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 20, 343–350. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0043220
Schmitt, H., Wolff, M. C., Ferdinand, N. K., & Kray, J. (2014). Age differences in the processing of context information. Journal of Psychophysiology, 28, 202–214. https://doi.org/10.1027/0269-8803/a000126
Stanislaw, H., & Todorov, N. (1999). Calculation of signal detection theory measures. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 31(1), 137–149. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207704
Statista. (2021). Number of monthly active Facebook users worldwide. May 21. Retrieved May 22, 2021, from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/.
StatsCounter. (2021). Social Media Stats Worldwide Apr 2020 - Apr 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2021, from: https://gs.statcounter.com/social-media-stats#monthly-202004-202104-bar.
Steele, V. R., Fink, B. C., Maurer, J. M., Arbabshirani, M. R., Wilber, C. H., Jaffe, A. J., & Kiehl, K. A. (2014). Brain potentials measured during a Go/NoGo task predict completion of substance abuse treatment. Biological Psychiatry, 76(1), 75–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.09.030
Tang, J. H., Chen, M. C., Yang, C. Y., Chung, T. Y., & Lee, Y. A. (2016). Personality traits, interpersonal relationships, online social support, and Facebook addiction. Telematics and Informatics, 33(1), 102–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2015.06.003
Turel, O., He, Q., Brevers, D., & Bechara, A. (2018). Delay discounting mediates the association between posterior insular cortex volume and social media addiction symptoms. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 18(4), 694–704. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-018-0597-1
Turel, O., He, Q., Xue, G., Xiao, L., & Bechara, A. (2014). Examination of neural systems sub-serving Facebook ‘addiction.’ Psychological Reports, 115(3), 675–695. https://doi.org/10.2466/18.PR0.115c31z8
Wegmann, E., Müller, S. M., Turel, O., & Brand, M. (2020). Interactions of impulsivity, general executive functions, and specific inhibitory control explain symptoms of social-networks-use disorder: An experimental study. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-60819-4
Funding
Support for this research was provided through the Institute of Psychology at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
AC: substantial contributions to the conception and design of the work. AC and NKP: preparation of the study methodology. NKP and KS: conduct of experimental study. AC: the data analysis and interpretation. AC, NKP and KS: drafting the work. NKP and KS: revising the work critically for important intellectual content.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Ethics approval statement
The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Institute of Psychology’s Ethical Committee of the research team’s university.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cudo, A., Kopiś-Posiej, N. & Shchehelska, K. The influence of Facebook intrusion and task context on cognitive control. Psychological Research 87, 373–387 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-022-01670-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-022-01670-2