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Everyday stressors and cognitive processes: An investigation into the impact negative emotions can have on our processing speed and attention

O'Connor, Jordan (2023) Everyday stressors and cognitive processes: An investigation into the impact negative emotions can have on our processing speed and attention. Undergraduate thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

Aims: The current study attempted to address a gap in research by investigating whether everyday negative moods can impact sensory system processing and related cognitive function. The study gathered individual’s level of stress, depression and anxiety, and compared the levels to performance in three psychometric tasks used for measuring perception, attention and cognition. Methods: Participants were recruited through social media platforms as well as through the use of posters. Levels of depression, anxiety and stress were measured through the use of the DASS-42 questionnaire. They would also complete the Stroop, Four-Choice Reaction Time and Symbol Search tasks. The DASS-42 scores were then compared with the mean reaction times and number of correct answers given in the three perception based tasks. Results: Overall, results suggest that DASS-42 scores in the general population could not significantly predict poorer performances in the three tasks, although there were exceptions. Conclusion: The current study may have been impacted by the limited sample size (n = 39), which impacted the significance of results. Further research should be conducted in order to verify the results found in this study. Furthermore, research should also investigate other sensory systems to see whether they can be impacted by negative mood.

Item Type: Thesis (Undergraduate)
Supervisors:
Name
Email
Kelly, Michelle
UNSPECIFIED
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > Psychology
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > Psychology > Cognition
R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA790 Mental Health
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > Psychology > Stress (Psychology)
Divisions: School of Business > BA (Honours) in Psychology
Depositing User: Tamara Malone
Date Deposited: 01 Jun 2023 15:14
Last Modified: 01 Jun 2023 15:14
URI: https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/6715

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