The Memory and Affective Flexibility Task: a new behavioral tool to assess neurocognitive processes implicated in emotion-related impulsivity and internalizing symptoms
BackgroundCognitive rigidity and working memory impairment are established features of internalizing syndromes. Growing evidence suggests that deficits in affective control –cognitive control in the context of emotion – may underpin elevated emotion-related impulsivity in various psychiatric disorde...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1456691/full |
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| author | Kenneth J. D. Allen Matthew V. Elliott Eivind H. Ronold Eivind H. Ronold Nandini A. Rajgopal Åsa Hammar Åsa Hammar Åsa Hammar Sheri L. Johnson |
| author_facet | Kenneth J. D. Allen Matthew V. Elliott Eivind H. Ronold Eivind H. Ronold Nandini A. Rajgopal Åsa Hammar Åsa Hammar Åsa Hammar Sheri L. Johnson |
| author_sort | Kenneth J. D. Allen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundCognitive rigidity and working memory impairment are established features of internalizing syndromes. Growing evidence suggests that deficits in affective control –cognitive control in the context of emotion – may underpin elevated emotion-related impulsivity in various psychiatric disorders.ObjectiveThis study examines two components of affective control (affective flexibility and emotional working memory) as potential neurocognitive processes linking emotion-related impulsivity to internalizing psychopathology.MethodUndergraduate participants (analysis n = 120) completed the Memory and Affective Flexibility Task (MAFT), a novel behavioral assessment designed to assess hot cognition in affective flexibility and emotional working memory performance, alongside self-report measures of impulsivity and symptoms of internalizing disorders.ResultsStructural equation modeling suggested that less accurate working memory during neutral trials (cool cognition) was associated with more symptoms of internalizing psychopathology. However, effects of hot working memory and affective flexibility were not significantly related to emotion-related impulsivity or psychopathology scores.ConclusionsAlthough findings provide no support for the validity of MAFT indices of hot cognition, these results replicate and extend work on the importance of cool working memory and emotion-related impulsivity as correlates of psychopathology. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-285ee4ea296f42ce8f33be875a52db27 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1664-0640 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj-art-285ee4ea296f42ce8f33be875a52db272025-01-30T16:24:31ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402025-01-011610.3389/fpsyt.2025.14566911456691The Memory and Affective Flexibility Task: a new behavioral tool to assess neurocognitive processes implicated in emotion-related impulsivity and internalizing symptomsKenneth J. D. Allen0Matthew V. Elliott1Eivind H. Ronold2Eivind H. Ronold3Nandini A. Rajgopal4Åsa Hammar5Åsa Hammar6Åsa Hammar7Sheri L. Johnson8Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United StatesDepartment of Medical and Biological Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, NorwayDivision of Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, University of Bergen, Bergen, NorwayDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United StatesDepartment of Medical and Biological Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, NorwayDepartment of Clinical Sciences Lund, Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine Lund University, Lund, SwedenOffice for Psychiatry and Habilitation, Psychiatry Research Skåne, Lund, SwedenDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United StatesBackgroundCognitive rigidity and working memory impairment are established features of internalizing syndromes. Growing evidence suggests that deficits in affective control –cognitive control in the context of emotion – may underpin elevated emotion-related impulsivity in various psychiatric disorders.ObjectiveThis study examines two components of affective control (affective flexibility and emotional working memory) as potential neurocognitive processes linking emotion-related impulsivity to internalizing psychopathology.MethodUndergraduate participants (analysis n = 120) completed the Memory and Affective Flexibility Task (MAFT), a novel behavioral assessment designed to assess hot cognition in affective flexibility and emotional working memory performance, alongside self-report measures of impulsivity and symptoms of internalizing disorders.ResultsStructural equation modeling suggested that less accurate working memory during neutral trials (cool cognition) was associated with more symptoms of internalizing psychopathology. However, effects of hot working memory and affective flexibility were not significantly related to emotion-related impulsivity or psychopathology scores.ConclusionsAlthough findings provide no support for the validity of MAFT indices of hot cognition, these results replicate and extend work on the importance of cool working memory and emotion-related impulsivity as correlates of psychopathology.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1456691/fullaffective flexibilityanxietycognitive controldepressionemotion regulationemotion-related impulsivity |
| spellingShingle | Kenneth J. D. Allen Matthew V. Elliott Eivind H. Ronold Eivind H. Ronold Nandini A. Rajgopal Åsa Hammar Åsa Hammar Åsa Hammar Sheri L. Johnson The Memory and Affective Flexibility Task: a new behavioral tool to assess neurocognitive processes implicated in emotion-related impulsivity and internalizing symptoms Frontiers in Psychiatry affective flexibility anxiety cognitive control depression emotion regulation emotion-related impulsivity |
| title | The Memory and Affective Flexibility Task: a new behavioral tool to assess neurocognitive processes implicated in emotion-related impulsivity and internalizing symptoms |
| title_full | The Memory and Affective Flexibility Task: a new behavioral tool to assess neurocognitive processes implicated in emotion-related impulsivity and internalizing symptoms |
| title_fullStr | The Memory and Affective Flexibility Task: a new behavioral tool to assess neurocognitive processes implicated in emotion-related impulsivity and internalizing symptoms |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Memory and Affective Flexibility Task: a new behavioral tool to assess neurocognitive processes implicated in emotion-related impulsivity and internalizing symptoms |
| title_short | The Memory and Affective Flexibility Task: a new behavioral tool to assess neurocognitive processes implicated in emotion-related impulsivity and internalizing symptoms |
| title_sort | memory and affective flexibility task a new behavioral tool to assess neurocognitive processes implicated in emotion related impulsivity and internalizing symptoms |
| topic | affective flexibility anxiety cognitive control depression emotion regulation emotion-related impulsivity |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1456691/full |
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