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Feeling low, thinking slow? Associations between situational cues, mood and cognitive function

Sophie von Stumm*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Within-person changes in mood, which are triggered by situational cues, for example someone’s location or company, are thought to affect contemporaneous cognitive function. To test this hypothesis, data were collected over 6 months with the smartphone application (app) moo-Q that prompted users at random times to rate their mood and complete 3 short cognitive tests. Out of 24,313 people across 154 countries, who downloaded the app, 770 participants submitted 10 or more valid moo-Q responses (mean = 23; SD = 18; range 10–207). Confirming previous research, consistent patterns of association emerged for 6 different situation cues with mood and cognitive function: For example, being alone rather than with others when completing the app resulted in worse mood but better cognitive task performance. Notwithstanding, changes in mood and cognitive function were not coupled. The advantages and challenges of using smartphone technology for studying mood and cognitive function are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1545-1558
Number of pages14
JournalCognition and Emotion
Volume32
Issue number8
Early online date1 Feb 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Nov 2018

Keywords

  • cognitive function
  • ecological momentary assessment
  • memory
  • Mood
  • smartphone
  • within-person differences

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