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1
DE, ANGELIS JACOPO. "HOW DO HUMANS RESPOND TO SOCIAL AND NON-SOCIAL STIMULI? EVIDENCE FROM TYPICALLY DEVELOPED INDIVIDUALS AND INDIVIDUALS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER." Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10281/309651.
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Secondo il filosofo greco Aristotele "L'uomo è per natura un animale sociale". Dopo 2350 anni, oggi sappiamo che questa affermazione è solo parzialmente vera. Sebbene le evidenze sperimentali abbiano messo in luce una preferenza per gli stimoli e le interazioni sociali negli esseri umani, questa conclusione non sembra applicabile a tutti gli individui e contesti. L'elaborazione degli stimoli sociali può infatti essere influenzata da caratteristiche degli stimoli sociali e non sociali, presentati in competizione, nonché da caratteristiche inter-individuali. Tra quest'ultime, il Disturbo dello Spettro Autistico è sicuramente un esempio prototipico di atipicità nei comportamenti sociali e nella cognizione sociale. Il presente lavoro di tesi era rivolta a: i. indagare se gli stimoli sociali esercitano una priorità di elaborazione negli individui a sviluppo tipico (TD), anche quando presentati in competizione con altri stimoli non sociali fortemente rilevanti (denaro); ii. Indagare se e come gli individui con ASD rispondono a stimoli sociali vs non sociali rispetto agli individui TD, prendendo in esame un duplice livello di elaborazione, cognitivo e fisiologico; iii. Indagare se le differenze tra individui TD e ASD nell'elaborazione degli stimoli sociali e non sociali possano considerarsi l'espressione di un fenotipo familiare allargato; iv. Indagare la possibilità di modificare la salienza degli stimoli sociali negli individui con ASD attraverso una metodologia di apprendimento implicito ABMT (Attention Bias Modification Treatment). La presente tesi presenta tre implicazioni: teorica, metodologica e clinica. Per quanto riguarda le implicazioni teoriche, il presente lavoro supporta solo parzialmente l'affermazione di Aristotele. I risultati infatti hanno evidenziato chiaramente che, sebbene gli stimoli sociali abbiano solitamente un accesso prioritario agli step di elaborazione, la loro valenza può essere influenzata da una varietà di variabili come le differenze individuali (e.g., tratti autistici) o caratteristiche degli stimoli non sociali presentati in competizione quelli sociali (e.g., stimoli di alto interesse autistico per l'autismo). Altresì, i risultati sottolineano la necessità di considerare le diverse fasi dell'elaborazione dello stimolo (cognitivo vs fisiologico) nell'esame delle risposte cognitive e fisologiche a diverse tipologie di stimoli. Per quanto riguarda le implicazioni metodologiche, il presente lavoro suggerisce l'integrazione di tecniche tradizionali con tecniche computazionali più avanzate (es: Machine Learning o Deep Learning). Per quanto riguarda le implicazioni cliniche, questo lavoro ha fornito un esame circa le modalità di elaborazione degli stimoli sociali in bambini e adulti ASD, sia a livello attentivo che fisiologico. In secondo luogo, ha contribuito a far ulteriormente luce sul concetto di fenotipo autistico allargato, mostrando i limiti di questo concetto e l'ipotetico ruolo di variabili ambientali nel modulare il comportamento sociale nell'autismo.According to the Greek philosopher Aristotle “Man is by nature a social animal”. After 2350 years, we know that this statement is partially true. Although experimental evidence has reported a preference for social stimuli and social interactions in human beings, this conclusion does not apply to every individuals and contexts. Social stimuli processing can indeed be affected by stimuli and competitive non-social stimuli features as well as by inter-individual characteristics. Among the clinical conditions characterized by atypicality in social behaviours and social cognition (e.g., schizophrenia, personality disorders etc.), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the most prototypical example. The present dissertation was aimed at: i. investigating whether social stimuli are prioritized by typically developed individuals (TD) even when they attentively compete with other relevant non-social stimuli (money); ii. Investigating whether and how individuals with ASD differently respond to social vs non-social stimuli compared to TD individuals, by considering both a cognitive and a physiological level of processing; iii. Investigating whether the differences between TD and ASD individuals in social vs nonsocial stimuli processing are the expression of a familiar phenotype; iv. Investigating whether it is possible to modify the salience of social stimuli in ASD individuals through an Attention Bias Modification Treatment (ABMT) methodology. The present dissertation is expected to provide three main implications: theoretical, methodological and clinical. As concerns the theoretical implications, the present work only partially supports Aristotle statement mentioned in the introduction. Indeed, the reported findings have clearly highlighted that, although social stimuli are usually prioritized, their valence may be affected by a variety of variables such as individual differences (e.g., autistic traits) or characteristics of the non-social stimuli presented in competition with the social ones (e.g., High Autism Interest stimuli). Finally, results stress the importance of considering the different stages of stimulus processing (i.e., cognitive vs physiological) when examining human responses to social vs non-social stimuli. As regards the methodological implications, the present work provides important hints for future research on social vs non-social stimuli processing with TD and atypical development populations, by suggesting the integration of traditional techniques with more advanced computational techniques (i.e., Machine Learning). As concern the clinical implications, this work has provided a rich examination of how children and adults of ASD children process social and non-social stimuli both at an attentional level and at a physiological level. Secondly, it has contributed to further shedding light on the concept of BAP, by showing its limitations and the role played by environmental variables in shaping the parents of ASD children’s behavioral responses.
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Reinholdt-Dunne, Marie louise. "The relationship between Attention Control, Attentional Bias, and Anxiety." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.518493.
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Holmes, Amanda Heloise. "Anxiety and attentional bias : the role of central attention processes." Thesis, Birkbeck (University of London), 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.395161.
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Testa, Giulia. "Neurocognitive alterations in obese candidates for bariatric surgery and psychological predictors of successful weight loss." Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Bergamo, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10446/128706.
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Background: Neurocognitive alterations have been related to severe obesity, especially in terms of reduced cognitive control and enhanced attention toward food-related stimuli. Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy (LSG) is a bariatric surgery promoting weight-loss via physiological, metabolic and behavioral changes. Initial evidence for cognitive improvement after surgery exist, suggesting a resolution of obesity-induced changes in reward functions and cognitive control. However, neurophysiological correlates of these processes are poorly investigated and longitudinal studies are needed in this direction. Despite the positive outcomes of LSG, some patients fail to reach successful post-surgery excessive weight loss (EWL). Possible psychological predictors of post-surgery outcomes have been suggested, although contrasting findings are present and studies investigating multiple psychological predictors are warranted.
Aims: This thesis aims at investigating neurophysiological and behavioral correlates of the alteration in cognitive control and food-related attention in obese candidates for LSG and the possible improvement at 12 months post-surgery. Another aim was to identify multiple psychological predictors of successful weight loss at 12 months post-LSG.
Methods: Cognitive control in presence of food-related stimuli was measured using a modified version of the Simon task, during EEG registration. In the first study, 24 obese candidates for LSG were compared with 28 normal-weight individuals, while in the second study patients were followed up at 12 months post-LSG, with the same measures of food-related cognitive control. In the third study, multiple preoperative psychological predictors of successful EWL % at 12 months post-LSG were assessed in 69 patients. Predictive variables included in the model were psychopathological symptoms, dysfunctional eating attitudes, and impulsivity trait.
Results: In the first study, food-related images interfered with cognitive control in obese individuals as assessed with RTs; ERPs measures showed a prefrontal N1 component higher for food in both groups, indexing early attentional capture of food images. Longer P2 latency and smaller N2 amplitude were present in obese individuals. In the second study, a reduction of food-related interference was found in both RTs and P3 amplitude toward food. ERPs indices of general attention (P2 amplitude) and cognitive control (N2 amplitude) were enhanced after LSG. In the third study, a logistic regression showed that age and attentional impulsivity trait positively predicted successful EWL while anxiety symptoms negatively predicted successful EWL.
Discussion: Attentional bias toward food-stimuli interferes with cognitive control in obese candidates for bariatric surgery. This food-related interference on cognitive control is reduced post-LSG. Neurophysiological indices suggested a reduced cognitive control in obese seeking LSG, which can be enhanced post-surgery. Specifically, enhancement of N2 amplitude in frontal electrodes after surgery may suggest higher recruitment of frontal areas during conflict detection processes post-LSG. In a larger sample of obese seeking LSG, elevated preoperative anxiety symptoms negatively predict successful EWL, possibly suggesting the importance of clinical interventions targeting anxiety in bariatric surgery candidates to possibly avoid post-surgery failures. Moreover, the present results on impulsivity trait suggest that restrictive BS procedure such as LSG may be suitable even in patients with moderate impulsivity traits, possibly helping them to avoid risky eating behaviors such as binge eating.
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Leleu, Vincent. "Anxiété et désengagement attentionnel de l'information menaçante." Thesis, Lille 3, 2013. http://www.theses.fr/2013LIL30037.
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Les recherches en psychopathologie cognitive ont montré que le biais attentionnel vers l'information menaçante contribue au développement et au maintien de l'anxiété. La difficulté rencontrée par les individus anxieux pour se désengager de l'information menaçante est l'une des principales composantes de ce biais attentionnel. Les recherches menées au cours de cette thèse ont permis, au moyen de paradigmes expérimentaux, de connaître : (1) les étapes du traitement de l'information concernées par la difficulté de désengagement attentionnel de mots menaçants et d'expressions faciales menaçantes, (2) l'importance de l'inhibition et du déplacement attentionnel dans la détérioration du désengagement attentionnel, (3) les relations entre la sous-échelle de focalisation attentionnelle de l'Attention Control Scale et le contrôle exécutif, et celle de déplacement attentionnel avec l'orientation de l'attention, et (4) la présence d'une difficulté de désengagement attentionnel des émotions négatives, non dans l'anxiété mais dans une situation stressante de menace du stéréotype de genre en mathématiques. Notre discussion reprend les résultats concernant le désengagement attentionnel et montre comment ils peuvent être étayés par des mesures telles que l'enregistrement des mouvements oculaires ou le recours à des investigations électrophysiologiques, auprès de populations cliniques et non-cliniques. Nous proposons aussi des pistes d'amélioration du dispositif d'entraînement attentionnel au désengagement, des mesures des fonctions d'inhibition et de déplacement attentionnel, ainsi que de nouvelles perspectives concernant l'évaluation du contrôle attentionnel par questionnaire et paradigmes expérimentauxResearch in cognitive psychopathology showed that attentional bias towards threat contributes to development and maintenance of anxiety. Difficulty to disengage from threatening stimuli is one of the major components of attentional bias in anxiety. Research conducted in this thesis, using experimental paradigms, enabled to identify : (1) the stages of information processing involved in the impaired, disengagement from threatening words and threatening facial expressions, (2) the role of inhibition and attentional shifting in the impaired attentional disengagement, (3) the link between the attentional focusing subscale of Attentional Control Scale and executive control on the one hand, and betweeen the attentional shifting subscale and orientation of attention, on the other hand, and (4) attentional disengagement impairment from negative emotions in a stressful situation of mathematical gender stereotype threat. Finally, we discussed the results related to attentional disengagement and showed how they might be supported by eyes tracking or electrophysiological measures in clinical and non-clinical samples. We also put forward suggestions to improve attentional disengagement training and develop new measures of inhibition and attentional shifting functions. We also proposed new perspectives for the assessment of attentional control using questionnaire and experimental paradigms
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Pettit, Sharon. "Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder : the role of delay aversion and attentional bias." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.390719.
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Morrison, Amanda Sue. "Attention Bias and Attentional Control in the Development of Social Anxiety Disorder." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2014. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/290208.
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PsychologyPh.D.
Although several efficacious treatments exist for social anxiety disorder (SAD), less research has been devoted to identifying specific mechanisms involved in the etiology of SAD using high-risk, longitudinal designs. Given the high prevalence and personal and societal burden associated with a diagnosis of SAD, research is needed to elucidate causal factors at play in the development of SAD to inform innovative prevention programs for at-risk individuals. Theoretical models and empirical research suggest that biased attention toward threat-relevant information is an important factor in the maintenance of SAD. However, relatively little is known about the role of attention bias to threat in the development of SAD, and evidence is inconclusive with regard to whether attention biases lead to increases in anxiety over time. Also, only one study has examined attentional control as a potential factor moderating this relationship despite long-held assertions that "control over cognitive processes" may be an important individual difference factor determining the strength of the relationship between attention bias and development of excessive anxiety. Finally, a few studies have shown that attention bias to threat predicts stress reactivity, but these studies have only been conducted in unselected samples rather than with individuals at risk for developing SAD. Thus, the aims of this study were to examine the moderating effects of risk for SAD and attentional control on the relationships between attention bias to threat and (1) psychological and biological social stress reactivity and (2) development of SAD. The primary aim of the study was to examine the aforementioned relationships using attention bias to threat as assessed using the modified probe detection task (MPDT). In an exploratory analysis, the relationships were examined using an index of attention disengagement bias assessed with the Posner spatial cueing task (PSCT). Attentional control was represented by four indices, analyzed in separate regression analyses given their weak bivariate associations (i.e., Antisaccade task reaction time and accuracy rate, Attention Network Test executive control score, and total score on the Attentional Control Scale). First-year college students at low or high risk for developing SAD completed assessments of attention bias, attentional control, and anxiety during their first month of college. Approximately four months later, they completed a social stressor task and the same self-report measures of social anxiety. At the end of their first year in college, they completed the self-report measures of social anxiety once more, as well as a diagnostic interview for SAD. Correlational analyses indicated that attention bias to threat on the MPDT was associated with concurrent self-reported social anxiety but did not prospectively predict psychological or biological social stress reactivity, self-reported social anxiety, or SAD diagnostic status at the end of the first year in college. Hierarchical regression analyses supported the hypothesized double moderation for concurrent social anxiety, such that high levels of attentional control weakened the association between attention bias toward threat and social anxiety, only among the individuals at high risk for SAD. However, analyses did not support this relationship in predicting prospective outcomes, and several unexpected patterns emerged in which interactions between attention bias and attentional control were observed to predict prospective outcomes, but only among individuals at low risk for developing SAD. Likewise, exploratory analyses using the PSCT index of attention bias revealed unexpected interactions between risk group, attention bias, and attentional control. Considered together, results of the current study highlight the importance of considering individual differences in attention bias and attentional control in the maintenance and development of SAD.
Temple University--Theses
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Sage, Karen Elizabeth. "Attention and emotion processing in children and parents : Exploring anxiety and attentional bias." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.525689.
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Clarke, Patrick. "Assessing the role of attentional engagement and attentional disengagement in anxiety-linked attentional bias." University of Western Australia. School of Psychology, 2009. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2010.0024.
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[Truncated abstract] It has consistently been found that individuals who are more highly vulnerable to anxious mood selectively attend to emotionally negative stimuli as compared to those lower in anxiety vulnerability, suggesting that such anxiety-prone individuals possess an attentional bias favouring negative information. Two of the most consistent tasks used to reveal this bias have been the attentional probe and emotional Stroop tasks. It has been noted, however, that these tasks have not been capable of differentiating the relative role of attentional engagement with, and attentional disengagement from emotionally valenced stimuli, suggesting that either of these attentional processes could account for the attentional bias observed in individuals with high levels of anxiety vulnerability on the attentional probe and emotional Stroop tasks. A number of resent studies have claimed support for the operation of biased attentional disengagement in anxiety using a modified attentional cueing paradigm, concluding that individuals more vulnerable to anxious mood have a selective difficulty disengaging attention from emotionally negative stimuli. The current thesis highlights the possibility, however, that the structure of the modified cueing paradigm could allow individual differences in initial attentional engagement with differentially valenced stimuli to be interpreted as a selective disengagement bias. ... The modified emotional Stroop task employed in the current research measured participant's ability to engage with the emotional content of differentially valenced stimuli having initially processed non-emotional information (stimulus colour), and measured their relative ability to disengage attention from such emotional content to process non-emotional stimulus information. Results using this modified Stroop task suggested that those with high vulnerability to anxious mood were disproportionately fast to engage with the content of negative as compared to non-negative stimuli whereas those with low vulnerability to anxious mood did not display this pattern. The results provided no support for presence of an anxiety-linked bias in attentional disengagement from the content of differentially valenced stimuli. Results derived from the modified emotional Stroop task therefore provided support for the presence of an anxiety-linked bias in attentional engagement with the content of emotionally negative stimuli, but no support for a bias in attentional disengagement from the content of such material. The final study in the present series of experiments was designed to address the novel possibility that a bias in attentional disengagement could result in ongoing semantic activation of negatively valenced stimuli which would not necessarily be indexed by previous tasks assessing biased attentional disengagement. The results of this final study, however, provided no evidence to suggest the presence of anxiety-linked differences in ongoing semantic activation of differentially valenced stimuli. The present series of studies therefore provide support for the presence of an anxiety-linked bias in attentional engagement with the content of emotionally negative stimuli, while providing no support for the presence of an anxiety-linked bias in attentional disengagement from negative stimuli.
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Perkins, Kirsten Johanna. "The components of visual attention : how might they contribute to attentional bias in anxiety?" Thesis, Birkbeck (University of London), 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.419535.
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Leafhead, Katherine M. "Delusions and attentional bias." Thesis, Durham University, 1997. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5007/.
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A research method for investigating delusional beliefs is outlined by adopting the delusional belief that one is dead (the Cotard delusion) as a model delusion. Detailed analyses of published case reports of the Cotard delusion demonstrate that the term 'syndrome' as it is currently applied to the belief that one is dead is not helpful in terms of our understanding of the delusion. Four new case studies of the Cotard delusion suggest that preoccupation with belief may play a role in the formation and maintenance of delusions. Preoccupation with delusional belief was investigated using a variant of the 'emotional' Stroop paradigm, commonly used in investigating anxiety disorders. Three individuals with the Cotard delusion, and diagnosed as suffering from depression, showed attentional biases toward words related to the theme of death. Two of the individuals had no history of anxiety and showed no bias toward words related to generalised anxiety. It was therefore suggested that the locus of attentional biases in delusions may be preoccupation with delusional belief, rather than anxiety per se. Consistent with this, a patient with fixed grandiose delusional beliefs, diagnosed with schizophrenia, and not suffering from anxiety, showed attentional bias toward words related to his delusional beliefs. Attentional bias failed to be demonstrated in a group of people with delusions arising in the context of schizophrenia, and reasons for this are discussed. Finally, three groups of individuals, who were free form any form of psychopathology, each showed a trend towards longer colour-naming times towards words related to their respective interests, but none of these were significant. It is concluded that attentional biases in delusions serve to reinforce delusional beliefs by constantly focusing die individual's attention onto delusion- relevant material. Implications for further research are discussed.
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Fitzgerald, Marilyn. "Are attention bias and interpretation bias reflections of a single common mechanism or multiple independent mechanisms?" University of Western Australia. School of Psychology, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2009.0052.
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There is abundant evidence of anxiety-linked threat-biased attention and anxiety-linked threat-biased interpretation (cf. Mathews & MacLeod, 1994, 2005). The present research aimed to determine whether these cognitive biases reflect a single common underlying mechanism (the Common Mechanism Account) or multiple independent underlying mechanisms (the Independent Mechanisms Account). To address this question, a battery of eight experimental tasks was developed; four tasks measured attention bias and four measured interpretation bias. Participants with different levels of trait anxiety, completed pairs of these tasks. The pattern of associations amongst all eight tasks was compared with the pattern of associations between the four tasks that measured attention bias and the pattern of associations between the four tasks that measured interpretation bias. Both Accounts predicted strong associations between the four tasks that measured attention bias, and between the four tasks that measured interpretation bias. However, the Common Mechanism Account predicted generally strong associations between all of the eight tasks, that were equivalent in strength to the associations between tasks measuring attention bias and to the associations between tasks measuring interpretation bias. In contrast, the Independent Mechanisms Account predicted weaker associations between all of the eight tasks than the associations either between the tasks measuring attention bias or between the tasks measuring interpretation bias. The obtained pattern of associations between internally reliable measures of anxiety-linked attention bias and anxiety-linked interpretation bias failed to support the Common Mechanism Account, but rather was consistent with the predictions of the Independent Mechanisms Account. Theoretical and applied implications of the results are discussed.
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Ryan, Francis Noel. "Attentional bias and addictive behaviour." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/26911.
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The relationship between attentional bias and aspects of addictive alcohol use was investigated. A modified Stroop procedure was administered to detoxified problem drinkers (N=33) attending a specialist day clinic and staff specialising in substance misuse treatment (N=32). The card format Stroop procedure contained words such as "alcohol" and "relapse" and neutral semantically homogenous words. It was predicted that the problem drinking cohort would show greater colour naming latency with alcohol relevant words compared to the neutral words than the control group. It was also hypothesised that significant relationships would emerge between indices of alcohol consumption and Stroop interference. Analysis of variance revealed significant main effects for word type with both alcoholic and "expert" subjects taking longer to colour-name alcohol related words (p< .001). Predicted interactions between word type and clinical status of subject were not observed. These results were consistent with earlier findings that expertise or familiarity were influential factors in Stroop performance and highlighted the need to control for this in future research using this paradigm. Alcoholic Ss did take relatively longer to colour-name alcohol related words than neutral words compared to controls, but this difference fell marginally short of significance (p < 0.07). Multiple regression analysis with the entire sample (N=65) showed that equations with the Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire (S.A.D.Q.) and the number of years regular drinking were significantly predictive of colour naming latency for alcohol related words (p < .001). Theoretical and clinical aspects were discussed including the role of automaticity in additive behaviour and implications for therapeutic intervention.
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Weafer, Jessica Jane. "ATTENTIONAL BIAS AND ALCOHOL ABUSE." UKnowledge, 2012. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/psychology_etds/6.
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Selective attention towards alcohol-related cues (i.e., “attentional bias”) is thought to reflect increased incentive motivational value of alcohol and alcohol cues acquired through a history of heavy alcohol use, and as such attentional bias is considered to be a clinically relevant factor contributing to alcohol use disorders. This dissertation consists of two studies that investigated specific mechanisms through which attentional bias might serve to promote alcohol abuse. Study 1 compared magnitude of attentional bias in heavy (n = 20) and light (n = 20) drinkers following placebo and two doses of alcohol (0.45 g/kg and 0.65 g/kg). Heavy drinkers displayed significantly greater attentional bias than did moderate drinkers following placebo. However, heavy drinkers displayed a dose-dependent decrease in response to alcohol. Individual differences in attentional bias under placebo were associated with both self-reported and laboratory alcohol consumption, yet bias following alcohol administration did not predict either measure of consumption. These findings suggest that attentional bias is strongest before a drinking episode begins, and as such might be most influential in terms of initiation of alcohol consumption. Study 2 addressed theoretical accounts regarding potential reciprocal interactions between attentional bias and inhibitory control that might promote excessive alcohol consumption. Fifty drinkers performed a measure of attentional bias and a novel task that measures the degree to which alcohol-related stimuli can increase behavioral activation and reduce the ability to inhibit inappropriate responses. As hypothesized, inhibitory failures were significantly greater following alcohol images compared to neutral images. Further, heightened attentional bias was associated with greater response activation following alcohol images. These findings suggest that alcohol stimuli serve to disrupt mechanisms of behavioral control, and that heightened attentional bias is associated with greater disruption of control mechanisms following alcohol images. Taken together, these studies provide strong evidence of an association between attentional bias in sober individuals and alcohol consumption, suggesting a pronounced role of attentional bias in initiation of consumption. Further, findings show that attention to alcohol cues can serve to disrupt mechanisms of inhibitory control that might be necessary to regulate drinking behavior, suggesting a potential means through which attentional bias might promote consumption.
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Skene, Wendy. "Attentional bias across the lifespan." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2014. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=217888.
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This thesis takes a lifespan approach to investigate attentional bias from childhood into older adulthood. Using the dot-probe task throughout, the primary aim was to identify age-related differences in attentional bias across the lifespan. Short and longer stimulus presentation times were used in some studies to investigate the time course of attentional bias. Furthermore, anxiety and executive function were measured to examine how these factors may influence attentional bias across the lifespan. Results found that children showed an attentional bias away from emotion faces which was most evident in those with low trait anxiety. Young adults attended to angry faces at the short presentation time, this was not maintained at longer presentation times. In older adults, results showed an initial avoidance of happy faces followed by a bias towards happy faces at the later presentation time. A direct comparison between children and young adults found that children showed avoidance of emotion compared to adults. A direct comparison of young and older adults found in those with higher state anxiety, young adults showed a bias towards threat at the long presentation time, whereas older adults showed a bias away from threat. Contrary to the predominant theory of attention, executive function was not found to be related to attentional bias in children or young adults. However it did influence attentional bias in older adults, where poorer inhibition was related to a bias away from the happy face. To summarise, this thesis has identified differences in attentional bias according to age and prompts further research into how age, anxiety, executive function and attentional bias may interact in a non-clinically anxious population.
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Stone, Bryant M. "Effects of a Gratitude Intervention and Attention Bias Modification on Emotion Regulation." OpenSIUC, 2020. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/2716.
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Much research testing positive psychological interventions (PPIs) has focused on the outcome of emotion regulation (e.g., increased positive or decreased negative emotions and affect). On the other hand, most research testing the effects of attention bias modification (ABM) has focused on the process of emotion regulation (e.g., reducing biased attention towards threatening faces in those with social anxiety disorder). Evidence is sparse and inconsistent on the process of emotion regulation in PPIs and the outcome of emotion regulation in ABM programs. Furthermore, few studies have examined the combined effects of a positive ABM (PABM) with PPIs, which is the focus of the current investigation. The aim of the study is to examine two relationships: 1) the effects of the gratitude letter PPI on the process of emotion regulation and 2) the combined effects of the PABM program and the gratitude letter PPI on the process and outcome of emotion regulation. The researchers used a dot-probe task to bias attention. The dot-probe task presented positive-neutral stimuli pairs (e.g., babies; geometric pattern). In the train-positive group, the probe appeared behind the positive images 90% of the time, compared to 50% in the control group. The researchers used a gratitude letter PPI, where participants wrote a letter for 15 minutes to someone they have never thanked, compared to the control condition who wrote a letter about their morning routine. The results suggest that the gratitude letter PPI does not affect the process of emotion regulation via attentional biases but does increase positive affect in the short term. Further, the PABM program may not affect the outcome of emotion regulation but did demonstrate a biasing of reaction time to positive pictures. This biasing of reaction times in the dot-probe was not consistent with eye-gaze patterns to positive images, suggesting that the dot-probe task does not measure or manipulate attentional biases. Finally, combining the dot-probe task and gratitude letter PPI did not produce a stronger effect on the process and outcome of emotion regulation than the gratitude letter alone. The findings of the current study suggest that the gratitude letter may be an effective and quick intervention to increase positive affect, but that the intervention is not suitable for long-term changes after a single administration. Further, individuals should not expect the dot-probe task to bias attention and should not except the task to influence the outcome of emotion regulation. Instead, researchers could use the task to measure and manipulate one’s decision-making processing speed.
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Seage, Catherine Heidi. "Exploring attentional bias to food cues." Thesis, Swansea University, 2012. https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa42953.
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The attentional system has evolved to be proficient at responding to the presence of food cues, particularly to those which are energy dense (Berthoud, 2007). Individuals who pay heightened attention to food stimuli within their feeding environment are likely to be motivated to overeat as a consequence. This current thesis presents 6 experiments which explore the extent to which paying enhanced attention to food cues in the environment influences eating behaviour. Experiment 1 established that individuals who are responsive to the pull of food cues, sensitive to reward and have high disinhibition are at risk of developing obesity. Experiment 2 demonstrated that individuals with high disinhibition were quicker to respond to high calorie food stimuli shown on a visual dot probe task. Whereas experiment 3 indicated that attentional retraining (learning to attend or avoid food stimuli on a visual dot probe task) could successfully manipulate food processing bias and calorie intake. Experiments 4 and 5 investigated the extent to which reward can determine the incentive salience of cues. Novel cues which had been paired with chocolate reward during a training task were found to elicite greater attention both at a behavioural and neurophysiological level. Finally Experiment 6 demonstrated that these trained cues could successfully manipulate craving. These results are discussed in terms of theoretical perspectives of attentional bias and the wider implications for understanding overeating.
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Scott, Sarah. "Attentional bias and physical symptom reporting." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2015. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/attentional-bias-and-physical-symptom-reporting(3b1382e1-cb80-4986-ba56-51c941d1abb1).html.
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Attentional bias to health-threat information in the sphere of medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) is the focus of this thesis. Confusion and debate regarding the classification of MUS exists, and medical and psychiatric classifications of MUS have resulted in separate literatures in the two areas. In addition to “medical” and “psychiatric” diagnoses, there are habitual symptom reporters who are frequently seen in the general population. Contemporary psychological theories of MUS postulate attentional bias towards health-threat information as central in their development and maintenance, although a causal relationship has yet to be established. Paper 1 provides an overview of the experimental paradigms used to examine attentional bias to health-threat information in “medical” MUS (functional somatic syndromes). This is provided within the theoretical context of attention. Eighteen studies satisfied inclusion criteria, and it was concluded that the evidence for an attentional bias in individuals with functional somatic syndromes is equivocal. The strengths and limitations of the individual studies are provided, together with recommendations for future research. The review has been prepared for submission to ‘Clinical Psychology Review’.Paper 2 employed an attentional bias modification (ABM) paradigm to explore whether it is possible to generate an attentional bias towards health-threat information in a low symptom reporting population. Fifty-six non-clinical low symptom reports were randomly assigned to a ‘training’ or ‘no training’ version of the ABM paradigm. ABM increased the degree to which low symptom reporters were distracted by threat but this did not lead to increased physical symptoms or anxiety. The empirical paper has been prepared for submission to the ‘Journal of Abnormal Psychology’.Paper 3 is a critical appraisal of the previous papers. Methodological considerations are discussed, together with theoretical and clinical implications.
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Campbell, Moselle. "Exploring the Relationship Between Attentional Control, Attentional Bias, and Anxiety in Children." OpenSIUC, 2016. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/2075.
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An attentional bias to threatening stimuli is associated with greater anxiety in children (see Puliafico & Kendall, 2006 for a full review). Attentional control is one factor that may influence the relationship between attentional bias and anxiety in children (Susa, Pitică, Benga, & Miclea, 2012). This current study focused on further exploring the relationship between attentional bias, attentional control, and anxiety. Participants (N = 46) completed a self-report measure of attentional control and anxiety, and an attentional bias task (i.e., the Emotional Go/No-Go). Two models were examined. First, attentional control was examined as a potential moderator in the relationship between attentional bias and anxiety. Second, attentional bias was examined as a potential mediator of the relationship between attentional control and anxiety. The moderation model was significant. However, the findings were not consistent with the literature, as results indicated attentional bias was associated with anxiety only for children with higher attentional control abilities. The moderation model was further examined with different dimensions of anxiety and attentional control. The mediation model was not significant. Explanation of the findings and future directions are discussed.
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Blain, Rachel Catherine. "The Role of Attentional Bias Modification in a Positive Psychology Exercise." Xavier University / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=xavier1556749693757742.
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Jeffrey, Sian. "Attentional and interpretive bias manipulation : transfer of training effects between sub-types of cognitive bias." University of Western Australia. School of Psychology, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2008.0234.
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[Truncated abstract] It is well established that anxiety vulnerability is characterised by two biased patterns of selective information processing (Mathews & MacLeod, 1986; Mogg & Bradley, 1998). First anxiety is associated with an attentional bias, reflecting the selective allocation of attention to threatening stimuli in the environment (Mathews & MacLeod, 1985; MacLeod, Mathews & Tata, 1986; MacLeod & Cohen, 1993). Second anxiety is associated with an interpretive bias, reflecting a disproportionate tendency to resolve ambiguity in a threatening manner (Mogg et al., 1994). These characteristics are shown by normal individual high in trait anxiety (Mathews, Richards & Eysenck, 1989; Mogg, Bradley & Hallowell, 1994; Mathews & MacLeod, 1994), and by examining clinically anxious patients who repeatedly report elevated trait anxiety levels (MacLeod, Mathews & Tata, 1986; Mogg & Bradley, 1998). '...' Two alternative hypotheses regarding this relationship are proposed. One hypothesis is that attentional and interpretive biases are concurrent expressions of a single underlying biased selectivity mechanism that characterises anxiety vulnerability (the Common Mechanism account). In contrast, a quite different hypothesis is that attentional and interpretive biases are independent cognitive anomalies that represent separate pathways to anxiety vulnerability (the Independent Mechanisms account). The present research program was designed to empirically test the predictions that differentiate the Common Mechanism and Independent Mechanisms accounts. The general methodological approach that was adopted was to employ bias manipulation tasks from the literature that have been developed and validated to directly modify one class of processing bias (i.e. attentional bias or interpretive bias). The effect of these direct bias manipulation tasks on a measure of the same class of processing bias or the other class of processing bias was then examined. The Common Mechanism and Independent Mechanisms accounts of the relationship between attentional and interpretive bias generate differing predictions concerning the impact of directly manipulating one class of processing bias upon a measure of the other class of processing bias. The central difference between the alternate accounts is their predictions regarding cross-bias transfer, that is the transfer of training effects from direct manipulation of one class of processing bias to a measure of the other class of processing bias. Whereas the Common Mechanism account predicts that such cross-bias transfer will occur, the Independent Mechanisms account does not predict such transfer. A series of seven studies is reported in this thesis. There was some difficulty achieving successful bias modification using bias manipulation approaches established in the literature; however when such manipulation was achieved no cross-bias transfer was observed. Therefore the obtained pattern of results was consistent with the Independent Mechanisms (IM) account, and inconsistent with the Common Mechanism (CM) account. A more detailed version of the IM account is developed to more fully accommodate the specific results obtained in this thesis.
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Lawson, Darla Jane. "Test Anxiety: A Test of Attentional Bias." Fogler Library, University of Maine, 2006. http://www.library.umaine.edu/theses/pdf/LawsonDJ2006.pdf.
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Stacom, Elizabeth E. "The effect of attentional bias on suggestibility." Morgantown, W. Va. : [West Virginia University Libraries], 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10450/10064.
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King, Kristine. "A Treatment Feasibility Study of an Attention Retraining Approach for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/42697.
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Information-processing studies have shown an attentional bias (AB) towards threat cues in individuals with anxiety disorders. Research has consistently shown that AB to threat may play a causal role in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders. Recent empirical evidence has demonstrated support for Attention Retraining (AR) to modify AB to threat, resulting in reductions of anxiety. Currently, AR approaches have not been systematically tested in individuals with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of a computer-based attention retraining (CBAR) treatment for clinical levels of PTSD using a modified dot-probe paradigm. A single-case time-series design was employed with a treatment and post-treatment period, following baseline. Results indicated significant reductions in trauma-related symptoms, attention to threat cues, state anxiety and depression, along with a significant increase in coping self-efficacy. AB change for the group was not significant. A significant relationship between AB change and PTSD symptoms was found. The results were discussed from the standpoint of the viability of AR for trauma.Master of Science
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Seehuus, Martin. "Discrepant Attentional Biases Toward Sexual Stimuli." ScholarWorks @ UVM, 2015. http://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/416.
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There are at least two types of response to stimuli: an automatic response that happens before conscious thought (a Type 1 response) and a deliberative, intentional response (a Type 2 response). These responses are related to behavior associated with the affective loading of the stimulus presented. Prior research has shown, for example, that a Type 1 tendency to spend more time looking at fear-provoking stimuli is associated with higher levels of general anxiety, while a Type 2 tendency to spend more time looking away from happy faces is associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. Some stimuli categories elicit mixed responses, indicated by discrepant Type 1 and Type 2 responses. For example, alcoholics in recovery tend to look toward alcohol-themed pictures in the first 200 milliseconds, then look away. This suggests that alcoholics in recovery have an automatic draw to alcohol that is overridden by the conscious application of a cognitive schema to avoid alcohol. Sexual response studies to date have measured Type 1 and Type 2 responses separately; however, no study has yet measured both types of response within the same person. This study was the first to examine both Type 1 and Type 2 responses to erotic stimuli within the same individual as a test of within-individual variation of attentional responses to sexual stimuli. Results do not support a connection between either attentional bias or conflicting Type 1 and Type 2 responses and sexual desire or distress. Implications of these non-findings are discussed in theoretical and methodological contexts, and future research is suggested.
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Darcy, Donna. "Attentional bias in clinical depression during childhood and adolescence ; alcohol attentional bias in an outpatient population attending addiction services." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 2015. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.695323.
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A systematic review was undertaken to examine evidence of attentional bias in youth with clinical depression. A total of five studies were included in the review. An overview of these studies is provided, and a summary of their findings is included. Attentional bias was observed with sad stimuli in clinically depressed youth, albeit the direction of this bias was inconsistent with evidence supporting a bias towards and away from sad stimuli. Methodological limitations are discussed. The need for further research is highlighted in order to enhance our understanding of the role of attentional bias in clinical depression in youth. An eye tracking study was undertaken to explore alcohol attentional bias in an outpatient population attending addiction treatment services. The study aimed to test for the presence of attentional bias towards alcohol stimuli, predictors of attention towards alcohol stimuli, and explore predictors of outcome at a three month follow up. There was evidence of attentional bias towards alcohol stimuli in current drinkers and level of craving significantly predicted attention towards alcohol stimuli. Regarding outcome, level of craving predicted outcome in current drinkers, while trait mindfulness predicted outcome in currently abstinent individuals.
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Sargeant, Elizabeth. "Attentional bias modification training for generalised anxiety disorder." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.617827.
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This thesis comprises a literature review and empirical study relating to Attentional Bias Modification Training (ABMT) and Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Following a general introduction of GAD, the literature review explores the cognitive models of GAD that place an emphasis on attentional bias. These models propose attentional bias as a key factor in developing and maintaining GAD. The dot probe and emotional stroop task have demonstrated empirical evidence of the relationship between attentional bias and GAD. ABMT represents a new paradigm for testing the relationship between attentional bias and GAD. ABMT uses contingency training to implicitly modify attentional bias to either increase vigilance to threat or avoid threat stimuli. ABMT represents a relatively novel treatment for GAD. Research that has explored the effectiveness of ABMT in treating GAD is discussed. Based on a critical evaluation of the current evidence base, there is emerging evidence to suggest that ABMT does represent a novel treatment for GAD and future research questions are suggested. The empirical paper investigates the effectiveness of ABMT in training an attentional bias from threat vigilance towards threat avoidance in a student population. Following training, symptoms of GAD were induced through the use of 7.5% CO2 challenge to evaluate the prophylactic effects of ABMT, compared to an active relaxation control group. The results of the study show that ABMT significantly changed attentional bias in the expected direction. The CO2 inhalation effectively induced anxiety across all participants. However, ABMT did not attenuate anxiety following the CO2 challenge. Correlations within the ABMT group demonstrated a relationship with attentional bias and anxiety as measured by physiological responses. The results of the study are discussed in relation to theoretical models and empirical research. Clinical implications of the study are considered and suggestions of future research as a result of the findings are also proposed.
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Mann, Baljit. "The role of attentional bias in alcohol dependence." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.396781.
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Hanson, Debbie. "Health anxiety and attentional bias towards external stimuli." Thesis, University of Leicester, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2381/8575.
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Objectives - Hypochondriasis and health anxiety have much in common. Both are classified as somatoform disorders within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR), however anxiety is often the predominant clinical feature. The chronic nature of the conditions can seriously interfere with an individual’s quality of life and current approaches to treatment are often ineffective. Attentional bias towards bodily symptoms is a defining feature of hypochondriasis and health anxiety and thus may contribute to the persistence of the conditions. Evidence for attentional bias towards external health/illness-related stimuli however is contradictory. The current study used the change blindness paradigm to examine the association between attentional bias towards external health/illness-related stimuli and health anxiety, in a non-clinical population. The clinical utility of the change blindness paradigm as a research tool for clinical psychologists was also evaluated. Design - The change blindness experimental paradigm was used to examine the association between attentional bias towards health/illness-related stimuli and level of health anxiety. Method - 80 participants were recruited who were all members of a private health club in the Midlands. Levels of health anxiety were measured using the Short Health Anxiety Inventory. The change blindness paradigm was implemented within the private health club and participants’ reaction times in detecting changes to external health/illness-related and neutral items were recorded. Results - No association was found between attentional bias towards health/illness-related stimuli and level of health anxiety. The data also revealed the potential presence of confounding variables. Conclusion - No evidence was found for attentional bias towards external health/illness-related stimuli as level of health anxiety increases. Further modifications to the change blindness paradigm are required to improve its clinical utility.
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Boichat, Charlotte Sarah. "Anxiety-related pain constructs, attentional bias and pain." Thesis, University of Bath, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.539551.
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Sutterby, Scott. "Attentional Bias Across the Dimension of Social Anxiety." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2006. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/1005.
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This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucf.edu/Systems/DigitalInitiatives/DigitalCollections/InternetDistributionConsentAgreementForm.pdf You may also contact the project coordinator, Kerri Bottorff, at kerri.bottorff@ucf.edu for more information.Bachelors
Arts and Sciences
Psychology
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Buck, Robert. "An investigation of attentional bias in test anxiety." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2018. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/an-investigation-of-attentional-bias-in-test-anxiety(7fdeadaf-f76d-47da-b99f-dc532a3b1ca4).html.
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Test anxiety is an individual personality trait, which results in elevated state anxiety in situations of performance evaluation. For school-age children, high-stakes examinations occurring at the culmination of programmes of study are where they frequently experience such evaluation. Alongside its impact on an individual's wellbeing, heightened test anxiety has been reliably linked to deficits in performance on examinations and assessments. Attentional bias has been shown to be an aspect of many forms of anxiety and is considered to have role in the maintenance of state anxiety, though the mechanisms underlying this are not fully clear. However, Attentional Control Theory (Eysenck, Derakshan, Santos, & Calvo, 2007) implicates preferential allocation of attention to threat in its explanation of performance deficits associated with test anxiety. The presence of attentional bias in test anxiety appears theoretically plausible with some empirical support (e.g. Putwain, Langdale, Woods and Nicholson, 2011); however, its reliability is under question. This study aims to investigate the presence of attentional bias in test anxiety, with a view to further understanding its underlying mechanisms and informing the development of interventions to ameliorate its effects. To ensure ecological validity, this study was conducted in schools and colleges, with a sample of 16-18-year olds following high-stakes programmes of study. Full investigation of test anxiety requires individuals to experience heightened state anxiety through performance evaluation threat; hence, the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was modified to make it applicable to this context and population. This study was conducted in two experimental phases, both of which adopted a mixed methodological approach to provide quantitative and qualitative data. The preliminary phase evaluated the materials and anxiety manipulation protocols. The main phase employed the modified-TSST in collaboration with a dot-probe task to investigate participants' attentional bias when under high performance evaluation threat. No patterns of attentional bias were uncovered to indicate a consistent relationship to either trait test anxiety or attentional control. However, there was a level of congruence between how some individuals describe themselves in evaluative situations and the attentional bias they displayed. Further investigation employing mixed methodological approaches such as Single Case Experimental Design is recommended to identify and address attentional bias in test anxiety.
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Duncan, Andrew Wilson. "Exploring attentional bias towards threatening faces in chimpanzees." Kyoto University, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/244515.
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付記する学位プログラム名: 霊長類学・ワイルドライフサイエンス・リーディング大学院Kyoto University (京都大学)
0048
新制・課程博士
博士(理学)
甲第22034号
理博第4538号
新制||理||1652(附属図書館)
京都大学大学院理学研究科生物科学専攻
(主査)教授 友永 雅己, 准教授 宮地 重弘, 教授 濱田 穣
学位規則第4条第1項該当
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Osher, David E. "A method for assessing attentional bias in anxious rats." Connect to resource, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1811/24057.
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Thesis (Honors)--Ohio State University, 2006.Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages: contains 24 p.; also includes graphics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 14-15). Available online via Ohio State University's Knowledge Bank.
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Lavy, Edith Hanna. "Attentional bias and anxiety: conceptual issues and empirical data." Maastricht : Maastricht : Rijksuniversiteit Limburg ; University Library, Maastricht University [Host], 1993. http://arno.unimaas.nl/show.cgi?fid=5758.
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Jokela, Sibinee D. "Gender Differences in Attentional Bias and Sensory-Specific Satiation." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2014. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/913.
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The current study sought to test the existence of a phenomenon known as sensory-specific satiety, in which attentional bias for food cues is specifically diminished for a consumed food, and the role of gender in such biases. In order to do so, the experiment used a version of the Flanker Task in which participants were shown image groups containing a target image and congruent or incongruent distracting flanker images. Participants (17 males, 22 females) were randomly assigned to consume one of two foods depicted in the flanker task (Ritz Bitz sandwiches or miniature Golden Oreos). Results did not support the idea of sensory-specific satiety, as we found a general reduction in reaction time rather than interactions in target/flanker congruency, suggesting that task performance was not driven by attentional bias to the food cues. However, there was an interesting interaction effect for session, consumption, and gender, such that women were faster than men for the consumed food post-satiety. Results may be explained by differences in motivation potentially caused by dissimilarities in dopamine levels. Additionally, results of the current experiment in combination with previous research could provide insight on gender differences in obesity.
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Begh, Rachna Aziz. "Randomised controlled trials of attentional bias retraining in smokers." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2014. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/4949/.
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Smokers attend preferentially to smoking-related cues in the environment, known as attentional bias. Evidence suggests that attentional bias is related to craving and relapse. Attentional retraining (AR) procedures have been used in laboratory studies to modify attentional bias and processes related to drug use, but investigations on the clinical value of AR in addiction are scarce. This thesis reports on two randomised controlled trials investigating the efficacy of AR with modified visual probe tasks in smokers. The first study explored the effects of varying the length of AR on attentional bias, craving, mood and withdrawal in current smokers. No retraining effects were observed after either a short, medium or long block of AR. The second study explored the efficacy of AR on attentional bias and smoking cessation outcomes in treatment-seeking smokers. While AR procedures were feasible to deliver within smoking cessation clinics, the intervention did not significantly reduce attentional bias, craving, withdrawal symptoms or the likelihood of relapse. These results and the literature in general show that there is no clear association between attentional bias and craving and relapse. Current AR procedures are not effective in smokers and should not be used in smoking cessation treatments, as they currently stand.
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Berg, Katy. "Attentional bias and distress tolerance in the eating disorders." Thesis, Royal Holloway, University of London, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.521902.
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The purpose of the current study was to examine a potential mechanism in the maintenance of distress tolerance difficulties and eating pathology in individuals with eating disorders. A role for attentional bias towards emotion-related stimuli was proposed, based on the premise that these stimuli would be perceived as threatening to individuals who have difficulties tolerating distress; and use eating related behaviours to regulate their emotions. It has been suggested that difficulties tolerating distress can develop as a result of invalidating childhood experiences in this group. Therefore, the relationship between attentional bias, distress tolerance difficulties and perceived experience of an invalidating childhood environment was also examined. A visual probe detection task was used to examine attentional bias for positive and negative emotion words in individuals with and without an eating disorder. Self-report measures of distress tolerance and perceived experience of an invalidating childhood were also taken. Results did not show a significant group difference in attentional bias for positive or negative emotion words. A trend towards individuals with eating disorders being more likely to direct their attention away from negative emotion words was observed. Higher levels of distress tolerance difficulties and perceived experience of invalidating childhood environments were reported in the clinical group. Furthermore, bias away from negative emotion words was associated with a deficit in healthy distress tolerance strategies in this group. These results are consistent with the idea that cognitive avoidance of negative emotion-related information is associated with distress tolerance difficulties in individuals with eating disorders. However, further investigation of this bias would be necessary in order to determine whether or not it is a reliable finding and clarify whether it is specific to individuals with eating disorders, or to a sub group of such individuals. Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.
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Klarén, Anton. "Dispositional optimism and attentional bias to happy facial expressions." Thesis, Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för biovetenskap, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-15528.
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Research suggests that the human attentional system is biased towards emotional events in the environment. This attentional bias is believed to be an adaptive function that can provide survival benefits for the organisms that possess it. Dispositional optimism is a trait defined as a general expectation that good things will happen in the future. This trait has received interest as an adaptive trait that has a multitude of psychological and physical benefits for the individuals who exhibit it. The aim of this study is to examine whether there is a difference in the attentional bias towards happy and angry facial expressions based on level of dispositional optimism using the dot-probe paradigm. Thirty-two psychologically and neurologically healthy females (mean age = 26.5, SD = 5.8) participated in the study. They completed a questionnaire measuring dispositional optimism and performed the dot-probe task in a laboratory setting in the University of Skövde. In the dot- probe task a short exposure (100 ms) of photographs depicting happy, angry and neutral facial expressions was used as emotional cues. A general bias towards happy faces across all participants was detected. Also, a clear trend towards an interaction between DO and AB to emotional faces was found in the group high in DO displaying and AB towards happy facial expressions. This study implies that for the psychologically and neurologically healthy population, a fast operating and automatic AB for positive stimuli exists, moreover, this AB may be modulated by individual differences in DO.
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Puliafico, Anthony. "Threat-related attentional bias in adolescents with social phobia." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2008. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/15238.
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PsychologyPh.D.
The present study compared attentional disengagement from threat-related stimuli in socially phobic (SP) and non-anxiety-disordered (NAD) adolescents. The associations between trait anxiety and state anxiety and attentional bias in SP adolescents were assessed. Furthermore, the present study compared the attentional control abilities of SP and NAD adolescents. Twenty-eight SP participants aged 12-17 and 27 NAD controls, matched on age and IQ, were administered a computer task to measure attentional disengagement from threat-related words. Participants completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and subtests of the Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-ch). Mixed ANOVA analyses indicated that SP and NAD adolescents did not differ in their disengagement from threat-related stimuli. Correlational analyses indicated that state anxiety was associated with disengagement from threat, but only when SP participants with comorbid ADHD were excluded from analyses. Trait anxiety was not significantly associated with attentional disengagement from threat. Finally, SP participants performed more poorly than NAD participants on the TEA-ch subtests, indicating poorer attentional control in SP participants. These results suggest that SP adolescents experience a deficit in executive attentional skills. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
Temple University--Theses
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Monem, Ramey G. "ATTENTIONAL BIAS TO ALCOHOL IN AN IN VIVO SETTING." UKnowledge, 2018. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/psychology_etds/146.
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The phenomenon of attentional bias to alcohol, where drinkers demonstrate a preference in allocating visual attention towards alcohol-related stimuli rather than neutral stimuli, is well-established. Studies detecting this phenomenon typically utilize computer-administered stimulus presentation tasks such as the visual dot probe task. Despite their frequency of use, these tasks do not represent the ways in which individuals typically encounter alcohol outside of the laboratory. Typical environments where alcohol is present allow individuals to move about freely and encounter alcohol while also being exposed to many other stimuli. This dissertation sought to implement a novel approach to assessing attentional bias in vivo, and identify how alcohol consumption might influence such in vivo attentional bias. This two-study dissertation utilized an in vivo task where participants looked freely around a room representing a recreational setting containing numerous objects while portable eye-tracking glasses monitored what an individual looked at and for how long. Target items of alcohol and neutral beverages were placed throughout the environment and fixation time spent on these objects was recorded. The first study of this dissertation examined attentional bias to alcohol-related objects across two identical testing sessions to understand the impact of novelty on allocation of in vivo attention. The second study tested individuals using the same in vivo assessment following a 0.30 g/kg dose of alcohol, a 0.65 g/kg dose of alcohol and a placebo. Participants also completed the visual dot probe task in order to measure and compare their attentional bias in a more traditionally implemented task to the novel in vivo approach. Results from the first study indicate that as the novelty of stimuli begins to wane and habituation to neutral stimuli occurs, attentional bias to alcohol-related objects emerges. This attentional bias was shown to be related to drinking habits, where heavier drinkers demonstrated increased attentional bias. The second study in this research found no discernible effect of alcohol consumption on in vivo attentional bias, but did identify a satiating effect of consumption on bias as measured by the visual dot probe task. Additional visual dot probe findings suggest the specificity of the effect of alcohol consumption on attentional bias. Together, these findings help inform whether there is benefit in utilizing an ecological model of measuring attentional bias and how the phenomenon might be measured in laboratory settings in the future.
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Campbell, Moselle. "THE EFFECTS OF ATTENTIONAL CONTROL AND ATTENTIONAL BIAS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANXIETY AND STRESS RESPONSE." OpenSIUC, 2019. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations/1728.
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Attentional control and attentional bias are important factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders (Eysenck, Derakshan, Santos, & Calvo, 2007; Van Bockstaele et al., 2014). However, the effects of attentional control and attentional bias on the relationship between anxiety and stress response is understudied. Further, much of the research to date has relied on self-report measures of attentional control and stress response, representing a significant limitation. The current study addressed these problems and examined the relationship between attentional control, attentional bias, anxiety, and stress response. First, this study examined the relationship between self-report and performance-based measures of attentional control and stress response with anxiety. Study results found poor agreement between attentional control measures, good convergence between self-reported distress and physiological distress, and a negative association between anxiety and self-reported attentional control and stress response. Second, results showed that attentional control and attentional bias were not significant moderators of the relationship between anxiety and stress response. Explanation of study findings and future directions are discussed.
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McAteer, Annie Melaugh. "Understanding alcohol attention bias in adolescence." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 2017. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.727957.
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Ongoing pairing of alcohol consumption and alcohol related cues in the environment, through a process of classical conditioning, result in the development of alcohol attention bias (AAB) which reaches automaticity with ongoing alcohol use. AAB may co-occur alongside alcohol expectancies and physiological responses contributing to misuse (Robinson & Berridge, 1993). Understanding AAB is an important step in understanding addiction aetiology. The following series of studies employs the novel approach of eye tracking to examine AAB more directly, expanding current understanding which to date has relied on indirect methods. Inclusion of adolescent participants provides insight into earlier stages of AAB, an area where there is currently a dearth of research. Results indicate differences between drinking groups and age groups in AAB strength; older drinkers and heavy drinkers demonstrate the strongest bias. Employment of eye tracking provides novel insight into the efficacy of a modified dot probe task differentiating automatic and controlled processes. These studies provide insights regarding the early stages of AAB manifestation and the studies included in this thesis begin to address gaps in the current literature. Inferences from the cross sectional analysis and retraining task suggest the bias is not static and may change over time, approaching automaticity as alcohol use continues. Whilst AAB appeared to be associated with alcohol use, as evidenced across age groups, additional factors also appear to influence attentional processing as indicated by findings in non-drinkers. Inconsistent relationships between AAB, expectancies and physiological response are reported and possible explanations for this are outlined in the thesis. The clinical utility of these findings in understanding AAB and the role of interventions in reducing it are considered and recommendations for future work to further understand AAB' s development and its role in substance misuse are outlined.
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Preston, Jennifer Leigh. "Is attentional bias towards threat a hallmark of chronic worry?" Columbus, Ohio : Ohio State University, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1153692231.
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Barnard, Daniel. "Attentional bias in anxious children and adolescents : a developmental perspective." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.289359.
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McDonald, Leonie. "Attentional Bias and Social Anxiety in children and their mothers." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.527644.
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Kerr, Natalie. "Exploring emotional bias, anxiety and attentional deficits in bipolar disorder." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.497542.
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Mendham, Clare. "A study of attentional bias in anxiety, and its consequences." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.296877.
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Bowler, Jennifer. "The impact of modifying attentional bias on vulnerability to pain." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 2015. https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/56818/.
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The preferential deployment of attention to noxious versus benign information in the internal and external environment - “attentional bias” - is thought to confer vulnerability to pain. The current thesis tested this putative mechanism by modifying the bias using the visual-probe task (attentional bias modification; ABM) and examining effects of this experimental manipulation on attentional bias and critical pain outcomes. Drawing on recent evidence that the impact of pain on attentional bias varies across its temporal components, this thesis additionally tested the component stages of attentional bias implicated in pain experience by manipulating the duration for which visual-probe stimuli were presented. Study 1 confirmed that both rapid and slower attentional orienting was biased in individuals with persistent musculoskeletal pain. Results from Studies 2 and 3 indicated that acute experimentally-induced pain modified the faster bias and that participants whose fast bias was modified had reduced vulnerability to cold pressor pain, in comparison with control participants. This suggested that mechanisms of initial orienting were more active in the acute pain experience. Studies 4 and 5 revealed that concurrently retraining fast and slower bias was optimal for persistent musculoskeletal pain. Results of a systematic review and meta-analysis indicated a small overall statistical effect of ABM on pain severity. Critically, however, whereas ABM had been effective at reducing acute pain severity, this was not the case for persistent pain. Overall, these findings suggest that the faster bias influenced vulnerability to acute pain, indicating a potential therapeutic target for future research. However, retraining the earlier stage of attention alone did not influence persistent pain outcomes, where there appeared to be greater involvement of the slower bias. It was concluded that not only could attentional bias influence critical pain outcomes, but that the optimal timings may vary across temporal pain classifications.
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Preston, Jennifer L. "Is attentional bias towards threat a hallmark of chronic worry?" The Ohio State University, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1153692231.
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