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Effortful control is associated with executive attention: A computational study
Author(s) -
Ossola Paolo,
Antonucci Camilla,
Meehan Kevin B.,
Cain Nicole M.,
Ferrari Martina,
Soliani Antonio,
Marchesi Carlo,
Clarkin John F.,
Sambataro Fabio,
De Panfilis Chiara
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/jopy.12614
Subject(s) - psychology , temperament , task (project management) , attentional control , facilitation , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , cognition , social psychology , personality , neuroscience , management , economics
Effortful control (EC) is the self‐regulatory aspect of temperament that is thought to reflect the efficiency of executive attention (EA). Findings on relationship between EC and performance on EA tasks among adults are still contradictory. This study used a computational approach to clarify whether greater self‐reported EC reflects better EA. Methods Four hundred twenty‐seven healthy subjects completed the Adult Temperament Questionnaires and the Attention Network Task‐revised, a conflict resolution task that gauges EA as the flanker effect (FE), that is, the difference in performances between incongruent and congruent trials. Here we also employed a drift‐diffusion model in which parameters reflecting the actual decisional process (drift rate) and the extra‐decisional time are extracted for congruent and incongruent trials. Results EC was not correlated with the FE computed with the classic approach, but correlated positively with drift rate for the incongruent trials, even when controlling for the drift rate in the congruent condition and the extra‐decisional time in the incongruent condition. Conclusion This study demonstrates an association between self‐reported EC and EA among adults. Specifically, EC is not associated with overall response facilitation but specifically with a greater ability to make goal‐oriented decisions when facing conflicting information.