Performance monitoring in social interactions: Dynamics of internal and external signal processing

为了监测认知系统的表现，它既使用内部的、自我产生的信号，也使用外部的信号。外部信号通常是他人给予的反馈，可以是口头的，也可以是非口头的，比如面部表情。我们的认知系统可以灵活地在内部和外部信号之间转换，以进行绩效监控。然而，在以自我病态倾向为特征的心理障碍研究中，从未考虑过这些动态。此外，对社会背景下内部和外部加工动态的直接调查在很大程度上仍然缺失。在目前的项目中，我们的目标是研究内部和外部信号处理之间的动态变化，以便在各种社会情况下以及患有恐慌症的临床人群中进行表现监测。以前曾报道过焦虑表现监测系统的过度活跃。我们将特别关注表现监测的内部和外部信号之间的灵活转换是否仍然存在于患有恐慌症的患者中。更具体地说，我们将调查注意力分配到内部或外部信号的灵活性降低是否与恐慌症状相似。第二组实验旨在研究在不同社会背景下，当两个人一起工作时，内部和外部信号处理的动态情况。

For performance monitoring the cognitive system uses both internal, self-generated signals and external ones. External signals are most often feedback given by others that could be either verbal or non-verbal like face expressions. Our cognitive system can flexibly shift between internal and external signals for performance monitoring. These dynamics, however, have never been considered in the study of psychological disorders characterized by a pathological inclination toward the self. Moreover, the direct investigation of the dynamics of internal and external processing in a social context is still largely missing. With the present project we aim at investigating dynamic shifts between internal and external signal processing for performance monitoring in various social situations as well as in a clinical population suffering from panic disorder. A hyperactivity of the performance monitoring system in anxiety was previously reported. We will especially focus on whether flexible shifts between internal and external signals for performance monitoring are still present in patients suffering from panic disorder. More concretely, we will investigate whether reduced flexibility in attentional allocation to internal or external signals parallels panic symptoms. A second line of experiments aims to investigate the dynamics of internal and external signal processing for performance monitoring in various social contexts when two people work together.