Motivation plays a key role in an individual’s behavior and the achievement outcomes that result from it. Selective attention is also vital to successfully pursuing a goal because it allows individuals to focus on relevant information. According to van Steenbergen et al.’s (2009) study, negative stimuli (i.e. stimuli with internal conflict) lead to a congruency sequence effect (CSE), which reflects cognitive control and enhanced selective attention. Zhang et al. (2022) replicated the study and built upon it by exploring how motivational orientation [approach (gain) vs. avoidance (avoid loss)] may moderate this relationship. 

The authors recruited 93 volunteer, native German speakers to participate in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to either the gain-focused group or the loss-focused group. The gain-focused group received instructions explaining that they’d gain money, and the loss-focused group received instructions explaining that they’d lose money. The stimuli used in their experiment consisted of various combinations of a row of five black arrows against a white background. There were two congruent combinations: “ >> > > > ” and “ < < < < < ”, and two incongruent combinations: “ > > < > > ” and “ < < > < < ”. Monetary gain, monetary loss, and no change were represented by a happy face, sad face, and neutral face, respectively. Participants reported at three timestamps throughout the experiment: prior to beginning, during the second test block, and after the experiment. Participants were assigned to separate rooms and told that there were three tasks to complete for a monetary reward. During each trial, a cross was displayed for a random amount of time (200, 300, 400ms), followed by a row of arrows, where they had to identify the orientation of the middle arrow as fast as possible. During the practice block, a face representing monetary feedback (gain, loss, or no change) was displayed with accuracy feedback. The researchers completed 24 trials during the practice block, 612 trials during the test blocks, and 24 trials for the filler block. Monetary feedback and task stimuli were presented to participants for the same frequency in the practice block and test block. During the filler block, the neutral face was presented repeatedly eight times, and the happy face was presented 16 less times than the sad face. After the experiment, participants were notified of their monetary gain/loss. 

The study’s results demonstrate that motivational orientation did influence the association between valence feedback and CSE. Specifically for loss-focused groups, positive gain feedback reduced the CSE. Additionally, the gain-focused group demonstrated a lack of valence effect. Zhang et al.’s (2022) study highlights the importance of motivation on an individual’s attention control during a task. Students must acknowledge their motivations and recognize their differential impact on achieving their academic goals. These results offer EPIC an opportunity to conduct future studies on how students’ moods interact with their motivation to achieve their goals. 

If you want to learn more about Zhang et al.’s (2022) study, check it out at: 

https://link-springer-com.tc.idm.oclc.org/article/10.1007/s11031-022-09951-4 

This post is written by Jessica Wang. 

Reference:

van Steenbergen, H., Band, G. P. H., & Hommel, B. (2009). Reward counteracts conflict adaptation. Evidence for a role of affect in executive control. Psychological Science, 20(12), 1473–1477. https://doi-org.tc.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02470.x 

Zhang, J., Kiesel, A., & Dignath, D. (2022). When negative affect drives attentional control: The role of motivational orientation. Motivation and Emotion, 46(4), 546-556.