Spirituality and Error Processing
Mamani, Angelica M.; Steffen, Patrick; Larson, Michael;
Abstract
Hundreds of articles have been published in psychology journals investigating spirituality and its uses in therapy and as a coping mechanism. However little research has been done on the effect of spirituality and neurological processes. Inzlichtet. al. (2009) asserted that both belief in God and high religious zeal were correlated with smaller ERN amplitudes. However in Inzlicht’s study only those who were highly zealous spiritually and if the participants believed in God. Nothing about the components of spirituality were examined. In order to fully assess the components of spirituality the Spirituality Assessment Inventory (SAI) was administered and the various subscales analyzed. Error-Related Negativity/Post-error Positivity Error related negativity (ERN) is an event related potential (ERP) characterized by the increased negative amplitude 100 ms after an incorrect response. The ERN is believed to reflect error processing through the error monitoring of the anterior cingulatecortex. We suggest that individual components of spirituality will significantly correlate with the ERN more than the holistic belief in God.