Lecture 6 - attention and the emotional disorders

Question 1

what is attentional bias

Answer 1

occurs when there is a discrete change in the direction in which a person’s attention is focused
as a consequence, the person becomes aware of a particular aspect of their stimulu environment

Question 2

qualities of attentional bias

Answer 2

occurs in any sensory modality
perceived as being passive or involuntary but can operate voluntarily
normally perceived to be contingent upon discrete change (onset or offset) in the internal or external environment of the person

Question 3

perceptual bias

Answer 3

tuning in more quickly (extracting more information from the environment

Question 4

response bias

Answer 4

output mechanisms biased to respond to a wide variety of stimuli with the concern related word

Question 5

selective attention

Answer 5

greater priority on some material vs other material

Question 6

attentional orienting

Answer 6

process of moving attention from one location to another

Question 7

name the two attentional systems

Answer 7

posterior attentional system

anterior attentional system

Question 8

explain the posterior attentional system

Answer 8

reactive system that orients attentional spotlight from one location to another - disengage, move, engage

Question 9

anterior attentional system

Answer 9

executive system that carries out more voluntary attentional functions

Question 10

what is attentional control

Answer 10

self-regulatory process - general capacity to control attention in relation to positive and negative reactions
an anterior attentional system
reflects individual differences in coping with anxiety and depression

Question 11

two strategies for investigating attention bias

Answer 11

tendency to attend to stimuli facilitates perfomrance
tendency to attend to stimuli may debilitate performance
explanations for attentional bias

Question 12

name 3 processes involved in attention

Answer 12

excitation
inhibition
dual process

Question 13

explain excitation

Answer 13

enhancing availability of selected information

Question 14

explain inhibition

Answer 14

supressinf ireelevant or to be ignored information

Question 15

explain dual process

Answer 15

facilitates responses to selected information and slows responses to irrelevant information

Question 16

relationship between interference and inhibition

Answer 16

more interference a distracter causes more inhibition required
inhibition is a response to interference
positive associated expected between interference measures and inhibition measures

Question 17

selective attention and GAD

Answer 17

well understood in GAD = speeded engagement with threat

clinical implications - if speeded engagment then focus on decreasing sensitivity

Question 18

attentional orienting and anxiety

Answer 18

less well understood and largely based on evidence from subclinical groups
involves multiple processes of engagement, disengagement and shirfting
clinical implications - focus on improving the ability to ignore negative info

Question 19

how does attentional bias influence anxiety

Answer 19

selectively filters early processing of threat, influencing cognitive and emotional processes related to anxiety
early stage is automatic and can amplify threat
voluntary attention - involved in coping strategies people use to regulate their anxiety

Question 20

name two key paradigms used to study anxiety and attention

Answer 20

emotional stroop
dot probe
both tasks suggest biases are automatic and uncontrollable

Question 21

explain emotional stroop

Answer 21

anxious slow to name ink colour of threat words

Question 22

explain dot probe

Answer 22

threatening and neutral words presented - followed by dot and time assessed to locate dot

Question 23

explain spatial orienting task

Answer 23

looks at movement of attention to a different location in space

Question 24

problems with studying attention in anxiety

Answer 24

do attention biases manifest themselves similarly in subclinical vs clinical groups?
matching nature of the stimuli with the concerns of the clinical population
form of stimuli - words vs images and the interaction with the clinical group

Question 25

attentional deficits in depression

Answer 25

decrease in available attentional resources
difficulties switching from one task to another
impaired ability to filter out distracting information
attentional bias to negative stimuli and difficulties disengaging from negative stimuli

Question 26

clinical consequences of attentional bias in depression

Answer 26

impairs social and work functioning
how to engage in psychotherapy
how to take medication
results in poor affect regulation

Question 27

name 4 paradigms used to study attentional bias in depression

Answer 27

event related potential measured by EEG
eye tracking
attentional switching performance
stroop emotional tasks

Question 28

explain event related potential investigations in relation to attentional bias in depression

Answer 28

ERP - P300 component to measure attnetion to negative words
P300 - positive amplitude observed 300 ms after stimulus onset
marker of attentional allocation

Question 29

set switching

Answer 29

one component of executive functioning is switching
switching - the ability to withdraw focu on current task demands and allocate focus to new demands based on environmental changes

Question 30

how are switching costs assessed

Answer 30

additional time taken to respond on a switch trial compared to a repeated trial

Question 31

name two processes involved in switching

Answer 31

non-inhibitory switching processes

backward inhibition

Question 32

explain non-inhibitory switching processes

Answer 32

more controlled processing - used to develop representation of new task demands (eg reorganizing working memory)

Question 33

explain backward inhibition

Answer 33

more automatic - effects of previous trial

Question 34

individual differences factors for attention and depression

Answer 34

rumination and the distinction between trait and state rumination - can they influence different attentional processes?
evidence that rumination related attentional bias mediated by dynamic circuit activity involved in orienting attention towards delf-focused thinking
motivation to engage in the task - hence importance of selr-relevant stimuli

Question 35

conclusion on depression and anxiety and attention

Answer 35

depression and anxiety both have attentional biases
paradigms used to provide useful information about the anture of thes ebiases
facilitated orientation as well as facilitated or debilitated disengagement can cause attentional bias

Question 36

selective attneiton biases

Answer 36

more often appear with anxiety at an ealry stage

Question 37

disengagement difficulties

Answer 37

occur most often with depression