Attentional bias and anxiety

Question 1

How does anxiety impact attention?

Answer 1

People with high level of anxiety have attention more easily drawn to threatening objects

Question 2

What is the difference between trait anxiety and state anxiety?

Answer 2

Trait = how anxious a person generally is
State = how anxious you are in a particular moment

Question 3

What results were found in spider phobics naming the colour of threat-related words vs spider-related words?

Answer 3

Found when word was a colour word, phobics and controls equally distracted
When emotional words, phobics slightly more slowed down
When spider related words, spider condition much more distracted

Question 4

Briefly describe the dot-probe task

Answer 4

Report location of dot after presented with either two words or two pics (neutral or threat)
Attention drawn to threat so faster response if dot appears in location previously occupied by threat word

Question 5

Briefly describe MacLeod and Matthews (1988) study

Answer 5

Medical students tested weeks before exam and 1 week before
24 examination related words
24 emotionally neutral words matching length
24 threat but unrelated to exam words
24 neutral words matching length
high trait anxious dramatically increased
low trait anxious decreased

Question 6

What did Bradley, Hogg and Millar (2000) find when examining attention to faces in anxiety?

Answer 6

Used dot-probe task to look at attention to different kinds of faces
As anxiety increases, so does vigilance for Threat faces compared to neutral faces

Question 7

What is involved in a visual search task?

Answer 7

Have to find picture of stimuli surrounded by neutral pictures…
…or find neutral picture surrounded by fearful stimuli

Question 8

Describe findings that show attentional biases may not be specific to anxiety

Answer 8

When shown different pictures, people who were scared of spiders were equally as distracted by spider picture as people who love doctor who were by doctor who picture