Effects of self-mirror image presentation during cognitive tasks on the relationship between anxiety and cognitive processing.

Abstract

In recent years, it has been suggested that one of the factors contributing to "Zoom fatigue," is the effect of "Mirror Anxiety" caused by the presentation of a self-mirror image on the screen (Fauville et al., 2021).
Therefore this study investigated the effects of self-mirror image presentation (stimuli) during cognitive tasks on the relationship between anxiety and cognitive processing.
Each subject performed a Stroop task under two conditions, with and without stimuli. Anxiety (STAI), reaction time (RT), autonomic indices such as heart rate variability, and eye movements during task were measured. Whether the stimuli were presented in the first （condition 1） or second task (condition 2) was randomly assigned to each participant.
The results showed a negative correlation between trait anxiety and RT, as well as a negative correlation between trait anxiety and the difference in RT between tasks, and this relationship was strengthened in condition 1.