Abstract

Previous studies in our laboratory have examined the effect of social rejection on frontal theta, showing frontal theta decrease. Confounds of the study included decreased motor and cognitive skills during the period of social rejection. This experiment looked at the effects of motor and cognitive activities on frontal theta with regard to both type of task and length of task. Eleven males and nine females from the Illinois Wesleyan University general psychology classes completed a set of short and long, motor and cognitive tasks. Participants were asked to type a series of 14 and 24 lines on a computer during motor tasks to echo the amount of lines typed during the previous study’s social rejection phase. During the cognitive tasks, participants were asked to read and comprehend online chats of 14 and 24 lines long. Cognitive quizzes were assigned to determine how well the participants had comprehended the cognitive tasks. There was a significant difference in correct scores between the short and long task. No significant differences of theta power or frequency were found for motor or cognitive tasks, as well as length of task. Gender did not affect the task, as there was no significant between task type or length and gender.

Disciplines

Psychology

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