Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Measuring Attentional Control Ability or Beliefs? Evaluation of the Factor Structure and Convergent Validity of the Attentional Control Scale

Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Attentional Control Scale (ACS; Derryberry and Reed 2002) has been widely used to measure individual differences in attentional control capacity, yet limited data exists on the factor structure and psychometric properties of the scale. Using confirmatory factor analysis with a sample of 125 undergraduate students, the present study evaluated and compared two different factor structures for the ACS reported in the literature. The convergent validity of the ACS was also explored by testing its associations with a behavioural measure of attentional control (the antisaccade task) and measures of working memory capacity. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a correlated two-factor model reflecting “focusing” and “shifting” subscales that eliminated several underperforming items from each subscale. Contrary to predictions, there were no statistically significant correlations between the ACS and its subscales and the working memory and antisaccade task indices. In addition, it was found that the ACS and its subscales were negatively related to symptoms of anxiety and depression, whereas performance on the working memory and antisaccade tasks was unrelated to anxiety or depression. These findings suggest that the ACS may be a better measure of beliefs about attentional control capacity than ability per se, a possibility that requires further investigation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price includes VAT (France)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Armstrong, T., Zald, D. H., & Olatunji, B. O. (2011). Attentional control in OCD and GAD: Specificity and associations with core cognitive symptoms. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 49, 756–762. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2011.08.003.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, L. L. B., Harp, D., & Jung, W. S. (2002). Reliability generalization of scores on the Spielberger state-trait anxiety Inventory. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 62, 603–618. doi:10.1177/0013164402062004005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., & Steer, R. A. (1990). Beck anxiety Inventory manual. San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for Beck depression Inventory–II. San Antonio: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bieling, P. J., Antony, M. M., & Swinson, R. P. (1998). The state-trait anxiety Inventory: Structure and content re-examined. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 777–788. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(98)00023-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, D. T., & Fiske, D. W. (1959). Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 56, 81.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chambless, D. L., & Gillis, M. M. (1993). Cognitive therapy of anxiety disorders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61, 248.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Claes, L., Vertommen, S., Smits, D., & Bijttebier, P. (2009). Emotional reactivity and self-regulation in relation to personality disorders. Personality and Individual Differences, 47, 948–953. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2009.07.027.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conway, A. R., Kane, M. J., Bunting, M. F., Hambrick, D. Z., Wilhelm, O., & Engle, R. W. (2005). Working memory span tasks: A methodological review and user’s guide. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12, 769–786. doi:10.3758/BF03196772.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daneman, M., & Carpenter, P. A. (1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 450–466. doi:10.1016/S0022-5371(80)90312-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Derakshan, N., Ansari, T. L., Hansard, M., Shoker, L., & Eysenck, M. W. (2009). Anxiety, inhibition, efficiency, and effectiveness: An investigation using the antisaccade task. Experimental Psychology, 56(1), 48–55. doi:10.1027/1618-3169.56.1.48.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Derryberry, D., & Rothbart, M. K. (1988). Affect, arousal, and attention as components of temperament. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 958–966. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.55.6.958.

  • Derryberry, D., & Reed, M. A. (2002). Anxiety-related attentional biases and their regulation by attentional control. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111, 225–236. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.111.2.225.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • DeVellis, R. F. (1991). Scale development. Newbury Park: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, M. W., Derakshan, N., Santos, R., & Calvo, M. G. (2007). Anxiety and cognitive performance: Attentional control theory. Emotion, 7, 336–353. doi:10.1037/1528-3542.7.2.336.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fan, J., McCandliss, B., Sommer, T., Raz, A., & Posner, M. (2002). Testing the efficiency and independence of attentional networks. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14, 340–347. doi:10.1162/089892902317361886.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • 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, 175–191. doi:10.3758/BF03193146.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hallett, P. E. (1978). Primary and secondary saccades to goals defined by instructions. Vision Research, 18, 1279–1296. doi:10.1016/0042-6989(78)90218-3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hermans, D., Martens, K., De Cort, K., Pieters, G., & Eelen, P. (2003). Reality monitoring and metacognitive beliefs related to cognitive confidence in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 383–401. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(02)00015-3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hermans, D., Engelen, U., Grouwels, L., Joos, E., Lemmens, J., & Pieters, G. (2008). Cognitive confidence in obsessive-compulsive disorder: Distrusting perception, attention, and memory. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46, 98–113. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2007.11.001.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hutton, S. B., & Ettinger, U. (2006). The antisaccade task as a research tool in psychopathology: A critical review. Psychophysiology, 43, 302–313. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2006.00403.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ilkowska, M., & Engle, R. W. (2010). Trait and state differences in working memory capacity. In A. Gruszka, G. Mathews, & B. Szymura (Eds.), Handbook of individual differences in cognition (pp. 295–320). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Judah, M. R., Grant, D. M., Mills, A. C., & Lechner, W. V. (2014). Factor structure and validation of the attentional control scale. Cognition and Emotion, 28, 433–451. doi:10.1080/02699931.2013.83524.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kline, R. B. (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (3rd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovibond, S. H., & Lovibond, P. F. (1995). Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (2nd ed.). Sydney, Australia: The Psychology Foundation of Australia.

  • Muris, P., van der Pennen, E., Sigmond, R., & Mayer, B. (2008). Symptoms of anxiety, depression, and aggression in non-clinical children: Relationships with self-report and performance-based measures of attention and effortful control. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 39, 455–467. doi:10.1007/s10578-008-0101-1.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998-2012). Mplus User’s Guide (Seventh ed.). Los Angeles: Muthén & Muthén.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ólafsson, R. P., Smári, J., Guðmundsdóttir, F., Ólafsdóttir, G., Harđardóttir, H. L., & Einarsson, S. M. (2011). Self-reported attentional control with the attentional control scale: Factor structure and relationship with symptoms of anxiety and depression. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 25, 777–782. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2011.03.013.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Posner, M. I., & Rothbart, M. K. (2007). Research on attention networks as a model for the integration of psychological science. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 1–23. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085516.

  • Reinholdt-Dunne, M. L., Mogg, K., & Bradley, B. P. (2009). Effects of anxiety and attention control on processing pictorial and linguistic emotional information. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47, 410–417. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2009.01.012.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reinholdt-Dunne, M. L., Mogg, K., & Bradley, B. (2013). Attention control: Relationships between self-report and behavioural measures, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Cognition and Emotion, 27, 430–440. doi:10.1080/02699931.2012.715081.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Speilberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L., & Lushene, R. E. (1970). Manual for the state-trait anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologist Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, M. L., & Engle, R. W. (1989). Is working memory capacity task dependent? Journal of Memory and Language, 28, 127–154. doi:10.1016/0749-596X(89)90040-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Selst, M., & Jolicoeur, P. (1994). A solution to the effect of sample size on outlier elimination. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A: Human Experimental Psychology, 47, 631–650. doi:10.1080/14640749408401131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verstraeten, K., Vasey, M. W., Claes, L., & Bijttebier, P. (2010). The assessment of effortful control in childhood: Questionnaires and the test of everyday attention for children compared. Personality and Individual Differences, 48, 59–65. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2009.08.016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, C. A., Dobson, K. S., & Sears, C. R. (2014). Does a high working memory capacity attenuate the negative impact of trait anxiety on attentional control? Evidence from the antisaccade task. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 26, 400–412. doi:10.1080/20445911.2014.901331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada

    Leanne Quigley, Caitlin A. Wright, Keith S. Dobson & Christopher R. Sears

Authors
  1. Leanne Quigley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Caitlin A. Wright
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Keith S. Dobson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Christopher R. Sears
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Leanne Quigley.

Ethics declarations

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Funding

This research was supported by a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and a graduate scholarship from Alberta Innovates-Health Solutions (AIHS) to L. Quigley, a graduate scholarship from SSHRC to C. A. Wright, and grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and AIHS to C. R. Sears.

Conflict of Interest

Leanne Quigley, Caitlin A. Wright, Keith S. Dobson, and Christopher R. Sears declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Experiment Participants

For all subjects, written informed consent was obtained.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Quigley, L., Wright, C.A., Dobson, K.S. et al. Measuring Attentional Control Ability or Beliefs? Evaluation of the Factor Structure and Convergent Validity of the Attentional Control Scale. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 39, 742–754 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-017-9617-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-017-9617-7

Keywords

search

Navigation