Ego depletion has become a popular and influential theory to explain one of humanity’s biggest limitations. Up until recently, it was thought that cognitive control is fueled by a resource, where...Show moreEgo depletion has become a popular and influential theory to explain one of humanity’s biggest limitations. Up until recently, it was thought that cognitive control is fueled by a resource, where continuous expenditure results in ego depletion, but several accounts point out that this resource has not been found or defined. Furthermore, meta-analyses of studies in favor of the resource model have shown potential publication bias, casting doubt on the existence of the resource or ego depletion in its entirety. The goal for this study was to find evidence that re-framing the mechanisms behind ego depletion using the Metacontrol State Model could explain and predict ego depletion effects more efficiently. 59 participants were repeatedly exposed to a Numerical Counting Stroop Task to trigger ego depletion followed by a geometrical Global-Local Task over six blocks. The Global-Local Task was chosen as the dependent variable, as evidence had been found that could be generalized to assume that global-local processing modes and the Metacontrol State Model may have mechanistic overlap. It was hypothesized that RTs and PEs in local trials would increase, and RTs and PEs in global trials would decrease over time in the experimental group. The findings of this study, however, do comply with our hypothesis, instead favoring the null hypothesis. Two ways to interpret our findings are highlighted. Strengths and limitations, including potential online sampling effects, and several empirically novel modifications to our tasks, are discussed. The effects of ego depletion on performance in the GLT were not observed.Show less
The traditional approach to research and diagnosis in psychiatry has been to focus on one specific diagnostic criterium at a time (DSM-5). Recent criticism suggests a transdiagnostic method that...Show moreThe traditional approach to research and diagnosis in psychiatry has been to focus on one specific diagnostic criterium at a time (DSM-5). Recent criticism suggests a transdiagnostic method that focuses more on underlying behavioral and cognitive traits to predict vulnerability to disorders such as OCD, ADHD, and eating disorders. Among these traits are impulsivity and compulsivity. According to the traditional model, impulsivity and compulsivity exist as a spectrum that is thought to be influenced by reward and avoidance sensitivity. In addition, this work proposes the use of the Metacontrol State Model (Hommel, 2015) in order to explore the Impulsivity-Compulsivity spectrum at the hand of flexibility and persistence. This study aims to explore to what extent reward-avoidance sensitivity and flexibility-persistence can account for Impulsivity-Compulsivity. 41 participants partook in this study that measured Impulsivity-Compulsivity using the S-UPPS, flexibility-persistence using the Stroop task and the AUT, and reward-avoidance sensitivity as per the MID. A multiple linear regression analysis found that trait biases towards the Metacontrol states flexibility-persistence positively predicted the Impulsivity-Compulsivity spectrum. Additionally, reward sensitivity negatively predicted impulsivity, the opposite of what was theorized. This relationship is explored with the help of more recent research, which suggests that the traditional model of reward-avoidance sensitivity oversimplifies Impulsivity-Compulsivity. However, results were found to be inconsistent. Thus, this work suggests that the relationship between reward-avoidance sensitivity and the Impulsivity-Compulsivity spectrum is further explored. In addition, this work provides preliminary evidence in favor of the Metacontrol State Model as a transdiagnostic tool.Show less