Cognitive Flexibility as a Potential Mediator of Attentional Scope and Mood
Date
2018
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Producer
Director
Performer
Choreographer
Costume Designer
Music
Videographer
Lighting Designer
Set Designer
Crew Member
Funder
Rehearsal Director
Concert Coordinator
Moderator
Panelist
Alternative Title
Department
Haverford College. Department of Psychology
Type
Thesis
Original Format
Running Time
File Format
Place of Publication
Date Span
Copyright Date
Award
Language
eng
Note
Table of Contents
Terms of Use
Rights Holder
Access Restrictions
Open Access
Terms of Use
Tripod URL
Identifier
Abstract
It has been well established that positive emotions can broaden awareness and help people to “see the big picture” (Frederickson, 2004). Recent findings (Gu et al., 2017) suggest that this is a bi-directional relationship, in that manipulating scope of attention can improve mood. This study aimed to confirm those findings, corroborate them with eye-tracking technology, and explore a potential mechanism for this relationship: cognitive flexibility. Participants were induced into a negative mood and randomly assigned to an attentional scope manipulation (either broadening or narrowing). After the manipulation, levels of cognitive flexibility and mood recovery were assessed. Contrary to expectations, the results of this study did not find a relationship between visual attentional scope and mood. Additionally, neither attentional scope nor mood was found to be related to levels of cognitive flexibility. Cognitive flexibility therefore cannot be considered to be a mediator of attentional scope and mood without further research into this subject.