Improved attention and performance monitoring in high procrastinating students after positive relative to negative norm-referenced feedback

Procrastination is an irrational delay of task completion. Previous studies have demonstrated that individuals who often procrastinate present deficits in attentional control and performance monitoring and that these dysfunctions might be differentially manifested depending on the motivational conte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of psychophysiology 2023-10, Vol.192, p.1-12
Main Authors: Wiwatowska, Ewa, Wypych, Marek, Michałowski, Jarosław M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attention
Event-related potentials
Feedback
Performance monitoring
Procrastination
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Summary:Procrastination is an irrational delay of task completion. Previous studies have demonstrated that individuals who often procrastinate present deficits in attentional control and performance monitoring and that these dysfunctions might be differentially manifested depending on the motivational context. Building upon these results, the present event-related potential (ERP) study aimed to investigate the impact of norm-referenced feedback on executive functions among students with high (HP; N = 75) or low (LP; N = 77) procrastination levels. Participants completed the parametric Go/No-Go task, while receiving either positive or negative false feedback indicating how well they performed in comparison to others. The results indicated that positive (as opposed to negative) feedback led to higher self-reported arousal and increased post-error slowing in HP (vs. LP) participants. Moreover, neurophysiological measures indicated lower neural activation linked to attentional control (P300) and performance monitoring (ERN, CRN and Pe) in HP than LP participants, while the groups did not differ in these indices during the positive feedback condition. Obtained findings indicate that HP might be more sensitive to the motivating effects of success and more vulnerable to the detrimental influence of failure. •High (vs. low) procrastination was linked to higher arousal after positive evaluation.•High procrastination was linked to lower brain activity after negative evaluation.•Norm-referenced feedback might impact procrastination-related cognitive dysfunctions.
ISSN:0167-8760
1872-7697
1872-7697
DOI:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2023.07.004