The Impact of Emotional Information on Task Performance in Unimodal vs. Cross-modal Paradigms
Abstract
Emotional stimuli can disrupt or enhance task performance, and this may depend on the sensory modality involved. In unimodal paradigms (e.g. visual task-irrelevant stimuli during a visual task) emotional stimuli frequently produce distraction effects; it is unclear how emotion affects task performance in cross-modal paradigms (e.g. auditory stimuli during a visual task). This project explored task performance as a function of sensory modality and emotional valence. In Study 1, participants (N=50) completed a visual task in the presence of task-irrelevant negative and neutral images and sounds. Response times and accuracy were disrupted in the presence of visual but not auditory emotional stimuli, particularly when the target and task-irrelevant stimulus appeared simultaneously. In Study 2, participants (N=38) completed an equivalent auditory task. Response times and accuracy were enhanced in the presence of auditory emotional stimuli at the first timepoint but disrupted at later timepoints. There was no effect for visual stimuli.