This study investigated the interplay between reward and emotion processing and examines the
influence of individual differences, specifically anxiety and reward sensitivity, on these cognitive
processes. Using a within-subjects design, 50 university students completed three associative
matching tasks: emotional valence, value-based reward, and a control task. Participants' accuracy and
response times (RTs) were measured alongside self-reported questionnaires assessing state-trait
anxiety and sensitivity to reward.

The results demonstrated significant prioritisation effects for both reward and emotion
processing. Participants showed higher accuracy and faster RTs for positive emotional stimuli (happy)
and higher reward stimuli (medium and high rewards). The medium reward condition yielded the
highest accuracy, suggesting a non-linear processing scale in reward evaluation. For emotional
valence, happy stimuli were processed more accurately and faster than neutral or sad stimuli. Notably,
sad stimuli also showed prioritisation over neutral stimuli, indicating that negative emotions can
similarly enhance cognitive performance due to their evolutionary significance.

Individual differences played a crucial role in modulating these effects. Higher levels of state
and trait anxiety were associated with reduced accuracy for happy stimuli. Conversely, no significant
correlations were found between reward sensitivity and the prioritisation effects in either accuracy or
RT, suggesting that reward sensitivity may not significantly influence these cognitive processes within
the sample.

These findings align with behavioural studies that emphasise how emotional valence and
reward magnitude can affect cognitive performance. The implications for clinical practice include the
potential for personalised therapeutic interventions tailored to individuals' anxiety and reward
sensitivity profiles. Future research should incorporate more diverse samples and employ realistic
stimuli to enhance ecological validity. Additionally, further exploration of individual differences is
essential. For instance, the observed influence of anxiety on cognitive processing highlights the need
to better understand how anxiety affects prioritisation of emotional stimuli. Likewise, improving the
measurement of reward sensitivity is also important, as current tools may not fully capture its
nuances. Addressing these areas will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the complex
dynamics of reward and emotion processing.