Abstract
Self-regulation and self-control methods have been developed primarily in laboratory situations in which subjects are passive or engage in low-demand tasks. In clinical settings self-control techniques are often advocated for handling highly demanding situations. The present study examined the effects of self-regulatory processes on a primary task that requires focused attention and cognitive rehearsal. Ninety-four subjects in a 3(CPAT difficulty) ×3(type of secondary task) factorial design worked on a Continuous Paired Associate Task (CPAT). At regular intervals subjects were given either a selfregulatory task or simple math problems, or a 10-second delay was introduced. After 60 minutes, subjects could continue or quit. CPAT accuracy immediately following the secondary task or the delay decreased significantly in comparison to the preceding or subsequent intervals. Subjects who worked on the easiest CPAT or with the Delay interruption showed significantly smaller decrements in performance. Subjects who were given a self-regulation task completed the fewest trial blocks voluntarily. The detrimental effects of the secondary self-regulation task on a complex cognitive task suggest that the beneficial effects of self-regulatory techniques may be limited. They caution against their therapeutic use in stressful situations that require concurrent performance on a cognitively demanding task.
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The authors would like to express their appreciation to Jonathan Higgins, Dawn lacobucci, Daniel Byars, John Figiel, Terri Menacker, Karen Ross, and Krystal Warden for their assistance in testing the subjects. The research was completed while the second author was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Illinois. She is now at Purdue University.
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Kanfer, F.H., Stevenson, M.K. The effects of self-regulation on concurrent cognitive processing. Cogn Ther Res 9, 667–684 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01173025
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01173025