Abstract
Cognition and emotion are not mutually exclusive; therefore, it is important to study the intersection of these two processes to understand ourselves and the decisions that we make. This study explores emotion and cognition interactions during a cued emotional conflict task, and the influence of anxiety on those interactions. Providing informative cues can allow participants to engage proactive control and prepare for conflict stimuli. This study examines the impact of emotional distraction on preparing for conflict. Participants (n = 48) were shown cues, followed by negative, neutral or no images, followed by a flanker stimulus while EEG was recorded. Informative cues indicated if the following flanker stimulus was congruent or incongruent. Results showed that reaction time (RT) was facilitated by informative cues compared to uninformative cues (p =.005), and informative cues produced a greater N2 response than uninformative cues (p < .001). Both findings indicate the presence of proactive control during the processing of cues. Incongruent flankers that followed the presentation of negative images produced greater P3 responses than incongruent flankers following no or neutral images (p’s < .05) if the trial had uninformative cues. This indicates that reactive control had to be engaged following negative images. Positive correlations between anxiety and RT on image trials (p’s < .05) and a statistical trend for a positive correlation between anxiety and P3 amplitude on congruent trials were also found (p = .07). These findings suggest that increases in anxiety may increase the need for reactive control following distraction by images.