Lecture 6 - attention and the emotional disorders Flashcards
what is attentional bias
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
qualities of attentional bias
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
perceptual bias
tuning in more quickly (extracting more information from the environment
response bias
output mechanisms biased to respond to a wide variety of stimuli with the concern related word
selective attention
greater priority on some material vs other material
attentional orienting
process of moving attention from one location to another
name the two attentional systems
posterior attentional system
anterior attentional system
explain the posterior attentional system
reactive system that orients attentional spotlight from one location to another - disengage, move, engage
anterior attentional system
executive system that carries out more voluntary attentional functions
what is attentional control
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
two strategies for investigating attention bias
tendency to attend to stimuli facilitates perfomrance
tendency to attend to stimuli may debilitate performance
explanations for attentional bias
name 3 processes involved in attention
excitation
inhibition
dual process
explain excitation
enhancing availability of selected information
explain inhibition
supressinf ireelevant or to be ignored information
explain dual process
facilitates responses to selected information and slows responses to irrelevant information
relationship between interference and inhibition
more interference a distracter causes more inhibition required
inhibition is a response to interference
positive associated expected between interference measures and inhibition measures
selective attention and GAD
well understood in GAD = speeded engagement with threat
clinical implications - if speeded engagment then focus on decreasing sensitivity
attentional orienting and anxiety
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
how does attentional bias influence anxiety
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
name two key paradigms used to study anxiety and attention
emotional stroop
dot probe
both tasks suggest biases are automatic and uncontrollable
explain emotional stroop
anxious slow to name ink colour of threat words
explain dot probe
threatening and neutral words presented - followed by dot and time assessed to locate dot
explain spatial orienting task
looks at movement of attention to a different location in space
problems with studying attention in anxiety
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
attentional deficits in depression
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
clinical consequences of attentional bias in depression
impairs social and work functioning
how to engage in psychotherapy
how to take medication
results in poor affect regulation
name 4 paradigms used to study attentional bias in depression
event related potential measured by EEG
eye tracking
attentional switching performance
stroop emotional tasks
explain event related potential investigations in relation to attentional bias in depression
ERP - P300 component to measure attnetion to negative words
P300 - positive amplitude observed 300 ms after stimulus onset
marker of attentional allocation
set switching
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
how are switching costs assessed
additional time taken to respond on a switch trial compared to a repeated trial
name two processes involved in switching
non-inhibitory switching processes
backward inhibition
explain non-inhibitory switching processes
more controlled processing - used to develop representation of new task demands (eg reorganizing working memory)
explain backward inhibition
more automatic - effects of previous trial
individual differences factors for attention and depression
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
conclusion on depression and anxiety and attention
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
selective attneiton biases
more often appear with anxiety at an ealry stage
disengagement difficulties
occur most often with depression
