The Impact of Ruminative Thinking on Verbal and Visual Task Performance

Abstract

Research shows the detrimental effects of rumination on individuals’ cognitive performance. However, there is limited research regarding rumination interference on task performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the link between rumination and cognition and explore if its impact is better described by Baddeley’s working memory model or Borkovec’s cognitive avoidance theory of worry. A laboratory experiment was conducted comparing three ruminative valence groups (negative, neutral, and positive). The aim was to explore individuals’ performance on a verbal and visual free-recall task and determine interference effects. Task scores pre- and post-rumination were collected from 69 university student participants and two 3 × 2 ANOVAs were conducted. The results suggest rumination may not interfere with individuals’ verbal and visual task performance, indicating the link between rumination and cognition may not be as significant as previously suggested. Furthermore, the results suggest that Baddeley’s model is a better description of rumination impacts on task performance compared to Borkovec’s theoretical model.