scholarly journals Emotion-in-Motion, a Novel Approach for the Modification of Attentional Bias: An Experimental Proof-of-Concept Study (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lies Notebaert ◽  
Ben Grafton ◽  
Patrick JF Clarke ◽  
Daniel Rudaizky ◽  
Nigel TM Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Performance Feedback ◽  
State Anxiety ◽  
Dynamic Environment ◽  
Stimulus Presentation ◽  
Training Condition ◽  
Experimental Proof ◽  
Negative Training ◽  
Anxiety Vulnerability

BACKGROUND Individuals with heightened anxiety vulnerability tend to preferentially attend to emotionally negative information, with evidence suggesting that this attentional bias makes a causal contribution to anxiety vulnerability. Recent years have seen an increase in the use of attentional bias modification (ABM) procedures to modify patterns of attentional bias; however, often this change in bias is not successfully achieved. OBJECTIVE This study presents a novel ABM procedure, Emotion-in-Motion, requiring individuals to engage in patterns of attentional scanning and tracking within a gamified, complex, and dynamic environment. We aimed to examine the capacity of this novel procedure, as compared with the traditional probe-based ABM procedure, to produce a change in attentional bias and result in a change in anxiety vulnerability. METHODS We administered either an attend-positive or attend-negative version of our novel ABM task or the conventional probe-based ABM task to undergraduate students (N=110). Subsequently, participants underwent an anagram stressor task, with state anxiety assessed before and following this stressor. RESULTS Although the conventional ABM task failed to induce differential patterns of attentional bias or affect anxiety vulnerability, the Emotion-in-Motion training did induce a greater attentional bias to negative faces in the attend-negative training condition than in the attend-positive training condition (P=.003, Cohen d=0.87) and led to a greater increase in stressor-induced state anxiety faces in the attend-negative training condition than in the attend-positive training condition (P=.03, Cohen d=0.60). CONCLUSIONS Our novel, gamified Emotion-in-Motion ABM task appears more effective in modifying patterns of attentional bias and anxiety vulnerability. Candidate mechanisms contributing to these findings are discussed, including the increased stimulus complexity, dynamic nature of the stimulus presentation, and enriched performance feedback.

Effects of Life Stress and Dysphoria on Complex Judgments

1993 ◽  
Vol 72 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1355-1363 ◽  
Author(s):  
John S. Gillis
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
State Anxiety ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Focus Of Attention ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Judgment And Decision Making ◽  
Subjective Distress ◽  
External Sources ◽  
Two Indices

A sparse literature concerning the effects of stress on judgment and decision making has produced two tentative conclusions: (1) stress impairs judgment and (2) such impairment is often the result of the narrowing of a judge's focus of attention. While evidence supportive of these propositions exists, there have also been contradictory findings. This investigation attempted to address both of these issues. 98 undergraduate students completed a complex multiple-cue judgment task and were also assessed as to (a) their exposure to two potential sources of stress (life events and irrational thinking) and (b) the amount of personal dysphoria they were experiencing. Two indices of subjective distress, depression and state anxiety, were significantly related to poor judgmental performance. None of several indices of potential stressors confirmed a relationship, which suggests that possible external sources of stress do not negatively affect judgment unless they generate subjective distress at the time judgments are made. There was no support for the “narrowing” hypothesis.

Anxiety-Linked Attentional Bias: Is It Reliable?

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 529-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin MacLeod ◽  
Ben Grafton ◽  
Lies Notebaert
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Substantial Evidence ◽  
Bias Assessment ◽  
Recent Interest ◽  
Threatening Information ◽  
Assessment Tasks ◽  
Test Retest Reliability ◽  
Stable Invariant ◽  
Anxiety Vulnerability

There is substantial evidence that heightened anxiety vulnerability is characterized by increased selective attention to threatening information. The reliability of this anxiety-linked attentional bias has become the focus of considerable recent interest. We distinguish between the potential inconsistency of anxiety-linked attentional bias and inconsistency potentially reflecting the psychometric properties of the assessment approaches used to measure it. Though groups with heightened anxiety vulnerability often exhibit, on average, elevated attention to threat, the evidence suggests that individuals are unlikely to each display a stable, invariant attentional bias to threat. Moreover, although existing assessment approaches can differentiate between groups, they do not exhibit the internal consistency or test-retest reliability necessary to classify individuals in terms of their characteristic pattern of attentional responding to threat. We discuss the appropriate uses of existing attentional bias assessment tasks and propose strategies for enhancing classification of individuals in terms of their tendency to display an attentional bias to threat.

PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL-EVALUATIVE ANXIETIES ASSOCIATED WITH RATING DISCOMFORT IN ANTICIPATED POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FEEDBACK CONDITIONS

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 359-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Sawyer ◽  
Lisa A. Hollis-Sawyer ◽  
Amanda Pokryfke
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Negative Feedback ◽  
Performance Feedback ◽  
Positive Feedback ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Inverse Relationship ◽  
Feedback Condition ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Personality Dimensions ◽  
Positive And Negative Feedback

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationships between select personality dimensions, social-evaluative anxieties, and rating discomfort. Undergraduate students were told they would be giving test performance feedback to a confederate and were instructed on how to give this feedback, to some degree, based on condition. Correlation and regression analyses revealed some interesting patterns. Neuroticism was found to be significantly related to feelings of discomfort only under the positive feedback condition, while extraversion was found to be significantly related to feelings of discomfort only under the negative feedback condition. A significant inverse relationship was also found between both agreeableness and conscientiousness levels, and in reaction to giving positive feedback. Additional findings and implications are discussed.

The Attentional Bias Modification Approach to Anxiety Intervention

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin MacLeod ◽  
Patrick J. F. Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Anxiety Reduction ◽  
Attentional Bias Modification ◽  
Attentional Selectivity ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Bias Modification ◽  
Anxiety Vulnerability

Anxiety vulnerability and dysfunction are characterized by an attentional bias to threat. Cognitive training procedures designed to modify selective attentional responding to threat originally were developed to test the hypothesis that this attentional bias causally contributes to anxious disposition. The capacity of attentional bias modification (ABM) training to alleviate dysfunctional anxiety has since attracted growing interest, and the present article reviews studies that have evaluated this therapeutic potential. When intended ABM training has successfully reduced attention to threat, it also has reduced anxiety vulnerability and symptomatology with a high degree of reliability. When the delivery of intended ABM training has not resulted in such anxiety reduction, this typically has reflected the failure to successfully modify attentional selectivity as required. We discuss ways in which ABM training procedures may be refined to optimize their capacity to reduce attentional bias to threat, to improve delivery of the resulting anxiolytic benefits.

Efficacy of Progressive Muscle Relaxation for Reducing State Anxiety among Elderly Adults on Memory Tasks

1993 ◽  
Vol 77 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1395-1402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene J. Rankin ◽  
Frank H. Gilner ◽  
Jeffrey D. Gfeller ◽  
Barry M. Katz
Keyword(s):  
State Anxiety ◽  
Relaxation Training ◽  
Muscle Relaxation ◽  
Training Condition ◽  
Progressive Muscle Relaxation ◽  
Elderly Subjects ◽  
Elderly Adults ◽  
Wechsler Memory Scale ◽  
Cognitively Intact

Cognitively intact anxious elderly subjects were randomly assigned to either a progressive muscle relaxation-training condition or control condition ( ns = 15) and then completed selected subtests from the Wechsler Memory Scale—Revised. Despite significant reductions in state anxiety in the relaxation group, no significant differences were detected between the two groups on memory measures. These results are discussed within the context of previous research, and suggestions for further research are made.

scholarly journals A Literature Review of Attentional Biases amongst Individuals with Substance Dependency: Individual Differences and Modulating Factors

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-134
Author(s):  
Melvyn Zhang ◽  
Daniel S.S. Fung ◽  
Helen Smith
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Attention Bias ◽  
Stimulus Presentation ◽  
Bibliographic Databases ◽  
Attentional Biases ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Attention Bias Modification ◽  
Stimulant Use

Introduction: Advances in experimental psychology have led to a better understanding of automatic, unconscious processes, referred to as attentional biases. Despite the growing evidence from meta-analytical studies, we still do not understand why some individuals have a greater magnitude of these biases, and why others have none. There has been little focus on elucidating individual differences and task parameters that affect the overall magnitude of the biases. In this opinion piece, we will attempt to identify these. We will then discuss both the research and clinical implications. Methods and Analysis: To identify the factors that modulated the magnitude of attentional biases across all the substance disorders (i.e., opioid use, cannabis use, and stimulant-use disorders), we performed a search using the bibliographic databases PubMed and MEDLINE. The search terminologies “attention bias” or “cognitive bias” or “approach bias” or “avoidance bias” were used when we looked for relevant articles. Results: It was evident from the published literature that several individual differences and factors modulated the magnitude of baseline biases. Across opioid, cannabis, and stimulant-use disorders, the most common individual differences identified were the severity of the dependence and the quantity of substance used. For both opioid and cannabis disorders the timing of stimulus presentation influenced the detection of attentional bias; it appeared that short stimulus timing was better able to detect attentional bias. Other identified individual differences included subjective craving and impulsiveness. The results highlight several research and clinical implications. Conclusions: The discovery of these individual differences and factors of the task paradigm that affect the magnitude of attentional biases will help in the future conceptualization of attention-bias-modification intervention.

scholarly journals Alcohol attention bias in 14-16 year old adolescents: an eye tracking study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Casey McGivern ◽  
David Curran ◽  
Donncha Hanna
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Attention Bias ◽  
Stimulus Presentation ◽  
Risk Identification ◽  
Fixation Time ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Social Drinkers ◽  
Social Drinking

Abstract Rationale Theoretical models regarding the automaticity of attentional processes highlight a progression of attentional bias style from controlled to automatic in drinking populations as alcohol use progresses. Previous research has focused on older adolescent and adult drinking populations at later stages in their drinking career. Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate alcohol attention bias in 14–16-year-old adolescent social drinkers and abstainers. Methods Alcohol attention bias was measured in social drinking and abstaining groups in an eye-tracking paradigm. Questionnaires measured alcohol use, expectancies, exposure and socially desirable response styles. Results Social drinkers fixated to alcohol stimuli more frequently and spent a larger proportion of their fixation time attending to alcohol stimuli compared to non-drinkers. Groups displayed differences in their style of attentional processing of alcohol-related information, with heavy drinkers fixating significantly longer to alcohol information across alcohol stimulus presentation and exhibiting a delayed disengagement style of alcohol attention bias that differentiated them from light drinking and abstaining peers. All social drinkers fixated significantly more than abstainers in the latter half of alcohol stimulus presentation. Conclusion Alcohol attention bias was present in this adolescent sample. Drinking subgroups are defined from abstaining peers by unique features of their attentional bias that are controlled in nature. These findings are comparable to those in other adolescent and adult social drinking populations. The identification of specific attentional bias features according to drinking subpopulations has implications for our theoretical understanding of developing alcohol attention bias and problematic drinking behaviours, as well as at-risk identification and early intervention.

Consent Requirements and Anxiety in University Undergraduate Students

1986 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-178
Author(s):  
W. Bruce Holliman ◽  
Glenn A. Soileau ◽  
James M. Hubbard ◽  
Joanne Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
State Anxiety ◽  
Contact Time ◽  
A Priori ◽  
The State ◽  
Consent Form ◽  
State Trait Anxiety Inventory ◽  
Consent Procedure ◽  
University Undergraduate Students ◽  
Anxiety Questionnaire

Four intact classes of undergraduate students (N = 276) in beginning psychology and sociology were administered the state anxiety questionnaire of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory under one of the following conditions: (a) following the presentation of a brief consent form, (b) following a longer consent form, (c) prior to the administration of a consent form, or (d) following the reading of an irrelevant passage to control for experimenter contact time. A priori comparisons indicated that groups given the short consent form and the inventory prior to consent were more anxious than other groups. These results suggest that the consent procedure may be useful as a brief anxiety reducing introduction to the experimenter.

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