Beliefs in being unlucky and deficits in executive functioning: An ERP study

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  College of Medicine, Biological Sciences and Psychology, University of Leicester, Leicester, Leicestershire, United Kingdom
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.733v1
Published
Accepted
Subject Areas
Neuroscience, Psychiatry and Psychology
Keywords
Dysexecutive Luck Hypothesis, Executive Functioning, Event-Related Potentials (ERP), Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC), Stroop, Luck
Copyright
© 2014 Martin del Campo et al.
Licence
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ PrePrints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Cite this article
Martin del Campo J, Maltby J, Fuggetta G. 2014. Beliefs in being unlucky and deficits in executive functioning: An ERP study. PeerJ PrePrints 2:e733v1

Abstract

The present study tested the Dysexecutive Luck hypothesis by examining whether deficits in the early stage of top down attentional control led to an increase of neural activity in later stages of response related selection process among those who thought themselves to be unlucky. Individuals with these beliefs were compared to a control group using an Event-Related Potential (ERP) measure assessing underlying neural activity of semantic inhibition while completing a Stroop test. Results showed stronger main interference effects in the former group, via greater reaction times and a more negative distributed scalp late ERP component during incongruent trials in the time window of 450 – 780 ms post stimulus onset. Further, less efficient maintenance of task set among the former group was associated with greater late ERP response-related activation to compensate for the lack of top-down attentional control. These findings provide electrophysiological evidence to support the Dysexecutive Luck hypothesis.

Author Comment

The present manuscript has been submitted to PeerJ for review.

Supplemental Information

Belief in Luck Scale Screening

Belief in Luck Scale Screening

DOI: 10.7287/peerj.preprints.733v1/supp-1

Scales and Stroop Data

Scales and Stroop Data containing Stroop RTs and Stroop's main conditions.

DOI: 10.7287/peerj.preprints.733v1/supp-2

Stroop EEG data

Stroop EEG microvolt data for all the Stroop main condition effects

DOI: 10.7287/peerj.preprints.733v1/supp-3