Judgement bias in pigs is independent of performance in a spatial holeboard task and conditional discrimination learning

Biases in judgement of ambiguous stimuli, as measured in a judgement bias task, have been proposed as a measure of the valence of affective states in animals. We recently suggested a list of criteria for behavioural tests of emotion, one of them stating that responses on the task used to assess emotionality should not be confounded by, among others, differences in learning capacity, i.e. must not simply reflect the cognitive capacity of an animal. We performed three independent studies in which pigs acquired a spatial holeboard task, a free choice maze which simultaneously assesses working memory and reference memory. Next, pigs learned a conditional discrimination between auditory stimuli predicting a large or small reward, a prerequisite for assessment of judgement bias. Once pigs had acquired the conditional discrimination task, optimistic responses to previously unheard ambiguous stimuli were measured in the judgement bias task as choices indicating expectation of the large reward. We found that optimism in the judgement bias task was independent of all three measures of learning and memory indicating that the performance is not dependent on the pig’s cognitive abilities. These results support the use of biases in judgement as proxy indicators of emotional valence in animals.     

Interpretation bias and social anxiety: does interpretation bias mediate the relationship between trait social anxiety and state anxiety responses?

Two studies aimed to examine whether high socially anxious individuals are more likely to negatively interpret ambiguous social scenarios and facial expressions compared to low socially anxious individuals. We also examined whether interpretation bias serves as a mediator of the relationship between trait social anxiety and state anxiety responses, in particular current state anxiety, bodily sensations, and perceived probability and cost of negative evaluation pertaining to a speech task. Study 1 used ambiguous social scenarios and Study 2 used ambiguous facial expressions as stimuli to objectively assess interpretation bias. Undergraduate students with high and low social anxiety completed measures of state anxiety responses at three time points: baseline, after the interpretation bias task, and after the preparation for an impromptu speech. Results showed that high socially anxious individuals were more likely to endorse threat interpretations for ambiguous social scenarios and to interpret ambiguous faces as negative than low socially anxious individuals. Furthermore, negative interpretations mediated the relationship between trait social anxiety and perceived probability of negative evaluation pertaining to the speech task in Study 1 but not Study 2. The present studies provide new insight into the role of interpretation bias in social anxiety.     

Stereotypic head twirls, but not pacing, are related to a ‘pessimistic’-like judgment bias among captive tufted capuchins (Cebus apella)

Abnormal stereotypic behaviour is widespread among captive non-human primates and is generally associated with jeopardized well-being. However, attributing the same significance to all of these repetitive, unvarying and apparently functionless behaviours may be misleading, as some behaviours may be better indicators of stress than others. Previous studies have demonstrated that the affective state of the individual can be inferred from its bias in appraising neutral stimuli in its environment. Therefore, in the present study, in order to assess the emotional state of stereotyping individuals, 16 captive tufted capuchins (Cebus apella) were tested on a judgment bias paradigm and their faecal corticoid levels were measured in order to assess the intensity of the emotional state. Capuchins with higher levels of stereotypic head twirls exhibited a negative bias while judging ambiguous stimuli and had higher levels of faecal corticoids compared to subjects with lower levels of head twirls. Levels of stereotypic pacing, however, were not correlated with the monkeys' emotional state. This study is the first to reveal a positive correlation between levels of stereotypic behaviour and a 'pessimistic'-like judgment bias in a non-human primate by employing a recently developed cognitive approach. Combining cognitive tests that evaluate the animals' affective valence (positive or negative) with hormonal measurements that provide information on the strength of the emotional state conduces to a better understanding of the animals' affective state and therefore to their well-being.     

Trained interpretive bias and anxiety

The relationship between anxiety and interpretive bias has been studied extensively, but the causal direction of this relationship remains largely unexplored. Do negative interpretations cause anxiety or is anxiety the cause of negative interpretations? Or are the two mutually reinforcing? The present study addressed this issue by experimentally inducing either a negative or a positive interpretive bias using Mathews and Mackintosh' [(2002). Induced emotional interpretation bias and anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109, 604-615] training paradigm and then examining its impact on state anxiety and anxiety vulnerability. In addition, it was investigated as to whether the interpretive bias was trained implicitly. Results indicated that style of interpreting could be manipulated. That is, when confronted with ambiguous information after the training, participants (n=118) interpreted this information congruent with their (positive or negative) training condition. Data on the issue of implicitness showed that participants tended to be explicitly aware of the valence of their training stimuli. Effects of trained interpretive bias on anxiety were only marginal and absent on anxiety vulnerability. It appears that interpretive bias can be trained reliably, but its effects on mood and vulnerability require further explanation.     

Family influences on dysfunctional thinking in anxious children

Anxious children are found to interpret ambiguous stories in a negative way. The current study attempted to examine the possible influence of parental fear and parental interpretation bias on the maintenance of such an interpretation bias. Children varying in level of anxiety (n=25) and their parents, filled in a questionnaire to measure their own fears, and gave their interpretations concerning nine ambiguous stories, relevant for childhood ‘interactional’ anxieties: social anxiety, separation anxiety, and generalized anxiety. Then, parents were asked to talk with their children about three of the stories. After the family discussion the children had to give their final interpretations. Results indicated that parents' self‐reported fear level and interpretation bias were associated with children's interpretation bias before the family discussion. However, no evidence was found for the idea that parents maintain or enhance the interpretation bias of their children. That is, irrespective of parental fear and parental interpretation bias, children interpreted the ambiguous stories as less negative after discussing them with their parents. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interpretation of homophones related to threat in anxiety states

In previous studies, we have established that anxiety states are characterized by an attentional bias that favors the processing of threatening stimuli. In the present study we extend this finding to ambiguous stimuli, specifically, homophones with spellings that correspond to either a threatening or a neutral meaning. As predicted, clinically anxious subjects used the threatening spellings relatively more than did controls, whereas recovered subjects were intermediate in this respect. Threatening words were associated with greater skin conductance responses than were neutral words, but the groups did not differ in their electrodermal reactions to homophones. We take these findings as evidence that, although the different meanings of ambiguous stimuli may be processed in parallel by all subjects, an interpretive bias operates such that anxiety-prone individuals tend to become preferentially aware of the more threatening meaning of such events.     

Dysfunctional Cognitions in Children with Social Phobia, Separation Anxiety Disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder

According to cognitive theories of anxiety, anxious adults interpret ambiguous situations in a negative way: They overestimate danger and underestimate their abilities to cope with danger. The present study investigated whether children with social phobia, separation anxiety disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder have such a bias, compared to a clinical and a normal control group. Children were exposed to stories in which ambiguous situations were described, and asked to give their interpretations, using open and closed responses. Results showed that anxious children reported more negative cognitions than control children. However, anxious children did not overestimate danger on the free responses, but they did judge the situations as more dangerous on the closed responses. Anxious children had lower estimations of their own competency to cope with danger than the control groups on both open and closed responses. The results indicate that children with anxiety disorders have dysfunctional cognitions about ambiguous situations.     

The relationship between social anxiety and the perception of depth-ambiguous biological motion stimuli is mediated by inhibitory ability

Orthographically projected biological motion stimuli are depth-ambiguous. Consequently, their projection when oriented towards the viewer is the same as when oriented away. Despite this, observers tend to interpret such stimuli as facing the viewer more often. Some have speculated that this facing-the-viewer bias may exist for sociobiological reasons: Mistaking another human as retreating when they are actually approaching could have more severe consequences than the opposite error. An implication of this theory is that the facing-towards percept may be perceived as more threatening than the facing-away percept. Given this, as well as the finding that anxious individuals have been found to display an attentional bias towards threatening stimuli, we reasoned that more anxious individuals might have stronger facing-the-viewer biases. Furthermore, since anxious individuals have been found to perform poorer on inhibition tasks, we hypothesized that inhibitory ability would mediate the relationship between anxiety and the facing-the-viewer bias (i.e., difficulty inhibiting the threatening percept). Exploring individual differences, we asked participants to complete anxiety questionnaires, to perform a Go/No-Go task, and then to complete a perceptual task that allowed us to assess their facing-the-viewer biases. As hypothesized, we found that both greater anxiety and weaker inhibitory ability were associated with greater facing-the-viewer biases. In addition, we found that inhibitory ability significantly mediated the relationship between anxiety and facing-the-viewer biases. Our results provide further support that the facing-the-viewer bias is sensitive to the sociobiological relevance of biological motion stimuli, and that the threat bias for ambiguous visual stimuli is mediated by inhibitory ability.     

Interpretive biases for ambiguous stimuli in social anxiety.

A growing body of literature suggests that individuals with high levels of general anxiety form threatening interpretations of ambiguous events. Although theoretical formulations of pathological social anxiety emphasize the importance of a negative interpretive-style in the etiology and maintenance of the disorder, we are unaware of any study that documents this presumed phenomenon. To address this issue, we assessed for possible interpretive biases in a group of high and low socially-anxious students. The results indicated that socially-anxious subjects showed more threatening interpretations of ambiguous, interpersonal events when compared to the low-anxious participants. However, this bias was marked not so much by an outright negative interpretation style, but rather by a failure of the socially-anxious subjects to show a positive interpretation as was evinced by the low-anxious individuals. These group differences in interpretive style appeared to be influenced by trait aspects of social anxiety rather than differences in current mood state. No group differences emerged in interpretations of events that involved non-personal stimuli suggesting there is content specificity in the interpretive biases associated with social-anxiety.     

Stereotyping starlings are more ‘pessimistic’

Negative affect in humans and animals is known to cause individuals to interpret ambiguous stimuli pessimistically, a phenomenon termed ‘cognitive bias’. Here, we used captive European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) to test the hypothesis that a reduction in environmental conditions, from enriched to non-enriched cages, would engender negative affect, and hence ‘pessimistic’ biases. We also explored whether individual differences in stereotypic behaviour (repetitive somersaulting) predicted ‘pessimism’. Eight birds were trained on a novel conditional discrimination task with differential rewards, in which background shade (light or dark) determined which of two covered dishes contained a food reward. The reward was small when the background was light, but large when the background was dark. We then presented background shades intermediate between those trained to assess the birds’ bias to choose the dish associated with the smaller food reward (a ‘pessimistic’ judgement) when the discriminative stimulus was ambiguous. Contrary to predictions, changes in the level of cage enrichment had no effect on ‘pessimism’. However, changes in the latency to choose and probability of expressing a choice suggested that birds learnt rapidly that trials with ambiguous stimuli were unreinforced. Individual differences in performance of stereotypies did predict ‘pessimism’. Specifically, birds that somersaulted were more likely to choose the dish associated with the smaller food reward in the presence of the most ambiguous discriminative stimulus. We propose that somersaulting is part of a wider suite of behavioural traits indicative of a stress response to captive conditions that is symptomatic of a negative affective state.     

Attentional bias to pictures of fear-relevant animals in a dot probe task

Attentional bias to fear-relevant animals was assessed in 69 participants not preselected on self-reported anxiety with the use of a dot probe task showing pictures of snakes, spiders, mushrooms, and flowers. Probes that replaced the fear-relevant stimuli (snakes and spiders) were found faster than probes that replaced the non-fear-relevant stimuli, indicating an attentional bias in the entire sample. The bias was not correlated with self-reported state or trait anxiety or with general fearfulness. Participants reporting higher levels of spider fear showed an enhanced bias to spiders, but the bias remained significant in low scorers. The bias to snake pictures was not related to snake fear and was significant in high and low scorers. These results indicate preferential processing of fear-relevant stimuli in an unselected sample.     

The glass is not yet half empty: agitation but not <Emphasis Type="Italic">Varroa</Emphasis> treatment causes cognitive bias in honey bees

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are prone to judge an ambiguous stimulus negatively if they had been agitated through shaking which simulates a predator attack. Such a cognitive bias has been suggested to reflect an internal emotional state analogous to humans who judge more pessimistically when they do not feel well. In order to test cognitive bias experimentally, an animal is conditioned to respond to two different stimuli, where one is punished while the other is rewarded. Subsequently a third, ambiguous stimulus is presented and it is measured whether the subject responds as if it expects a reward or a punishment. Generally, it is assumed that negative experiences lower future expectations, rendering the animals more pessimistic. Here we tested whether a most likely negatively experienced formic acid treatment against the parasitic mite Varroa destructor also affects future expectations of honey bees. We applied an olfactory learning paradigm (i.e., conditioned proboscis extension response) using two odorants and blends of these odorants as the ambiguous stimuli. Unlike agitating honey bees, exposure to formic acid did not significantly change the response to the ambiguous stimuli in comparison with untreated bees. Overall evidence suggests that the commonest treatment against one of the most harmful bee pests has no detrimental effects on cognitive bias in honey bees.     

Development of Strategic Norms in Groups

In his classic norm formation research, Sherif (1935) demonstrated convergence in group members' judgments of ambiguous perceptual stimuli. In the present study, we investigated convergence in group members' strategic orientations for solving problems, specifically riskiness and conservatism. According to Regulatory Focus Theory (Higgins, 1998), people in a “promotion focus” (who are sensitive to the presence and absence of positive outcomes and who desire accomplishments) adopt risky strategies for solving problems, whereas people in a “prevention focus” (who are sensitive to the absence and presence of negative outcomes and who desire security) adopt conservative strategies. Using a modified version of Sherif's classic paradigm, we introduced a subtle manipulation to induce promotion vs prevention focus in three-person groups working on a multitrial recognition memory task. We found evidence that group members' responses converged and that this convergence was associated with a directional bias in strategic orientation (i.e., promotion groups were riskier than prevention groups). Implications of these results for understanding shared reality in groups were discussed.     

Social anxiety and adolescence: Interpretation bias in an Italian Sample

Interpretation bias, namely the tendency to systematically assign a negative meaning to ambiguous social situations, has been extensively studied in adult populations, while in adolescents it has received little attention. We aimed to address this gap by analyzing the three components of interpretation bias (negative interpretations, positive interpretations, belief in negative interpretations) in Italian adolescents aged between 14 and 17, comparing two groups: high (n = 32) and average (n = 33) social anxiety. The participants filled Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and Adolescents’ Interpretation and Belief Questionnaire (AIBQ). We found that the bias is specific to social anxiety (not due to the presence of negative mood) and present only in social situations. Instead, contrary to the hypothesis, Italian adolescents with high social anxiety have both negative bias and absence of the positive bias. Hence, preventive interventions should focus not only on the reduction of negative interpretations. They should also reinforce positive interpretations and target belief in negative interpretations. Based on these considerations, we gave some suggestions to improve the tasks of the Cognitive Bias Modification addressed to adolescents. Finally, belief in negative interpretations and the relationship between negative and positive interpretations in social anxiety deserve further study, both in adolescents and in adults.     

Forced choice reaction time paradigm in children with separation anxiety disorder, social phobia, and nonanxious controls

Cognitive distortions refer to cognitive processes that are biased and therefore yield dysfunctional and maladaptive products (e.g., interpretation bias). Automatic aspects of information processing need to be considered and investigating these aspects requires forms of assessment other than self-report. Studies focussing on the specificity of cognitive biases across different types of anxiety disorders in childhood are rare. Thus, a forced choice reaction time paradigm with picture stimuli was used to assess the interpretation bias in anxious children online. The study investigated disorder-specific interpretation bias in 71 children with separation anxiety disorder (SAD), 31 children with social phobia, and 42 children without mental disorders, aged 5–13 years. Results indicated that children with SAD rated ambiguous separation pictures as significantly more unpleasant and more arousing than nonanxious children. However, no support was found that children with SAD and social phobia interpret ambiguous separation or social pictures in a more negative way than nonanxious children. Furthermore, no group differences were found in reaction times to all picture categories.     

状态焦虑对时距知觉的影响：认知评价和注意偏向有调节的中介作用

探讨状态焦虑对时距知觉的影响以及注意偏向与认知评价在其中的中介和调节作用。招募大学生60人, 随机分为高、低状态焦虑组, 用情绪诱导程序诱导高、低状态焦虑; 用点探测范式测量注意偏向; 用时间再现任务测量时距知觉; 用视觉模拟心境量表测量认知评价。结果发现：(1)状态焦虑会导致对2000 ms时距的高估; (2)注意偏向在状态焦虑对2000 ms时距知觉的影响中具有部分中介作用; (3)状态焦虑通过注意偏向影响时距知觉的中介过程受到认知评价的调节作用：只有当认知评价得分较高时, 即个体认为焦虑对心理健康有害程度较高时, 状态焦虑通过注意偏向影响2000 ms时距知觉。研究结果揭示了焦虑个体时距知觉的内部过程, 丰富了焦虑通过注意偏向影响时距知觉的解释视角, 为通过认知评价和注意偏向的调整改善焦虑个体时距偏差现象提供了重要参考。     

Neurocognitive mechanisms of anxiety: an integrative account

Anxiety can be hugely disruptive to everyday life. Anxious individuals show increased attentional capture by potential signs of danger, and interpret expressions, comments and events in a negative manner. These cognitive biases have been widely explored in human anxiety research. By contrast, animal models have focused upon the mechanisms underlying acquisition and extinction of conditioned fear, guiding exposure-based therapies for anxiety disorders. Recent neuroimaging studies of conditioned fear, attention to threat and interpretation of emotionally ambiguous stimuli indicate common amygdala-prefrontal circuitry underlying these processes, and suggest that the balance of activity within this circuitry is altered in anxiety, creating a bias towards threat-related responses. This provides a focus for future translational research, and targeted pharmacological and cognitive interventions.     

The Effects of Social Anxiety and State Anxiety on Visual Attention: Testing the Vigilance–Avoidance Hypothesis

A growing theoretical and research literature suggests that trait and state social anxiety can predict attentional patterns in the presence of emotional stimuli. The current study adds to this literature by examining the effects of state anxiety on visual attention and testing the vigilance–avoidance hypothesis, using a method of continuous visual attentional assessment. Participants were 91 undergraduate college students with high or low trait fear of negative evaluation (FNE), a core aspect of social anxiety, who were randomly assigned to either a high or low state anxiety condition. Participants engaged in a free view task in which pairs of emotional facial stimuli were presented and eye movements were continuously monitored. Overall, participants with high FNE avoided angry stimuli and participants with high state anxiety attended to positive stimuli. Participants with high state anxiety and high FNE were avoidant of angry faces, whereas participants with low state and low FNE exhibited a bias toward angry faces. The study provided partial support for the vigilance–avoidance hypothesis. The findings add to the mixed results in the literature that suggest that both positive and negative emotional stimuli may be important in understanding the complex attention patterns associated with social anxiety. Clinical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Depression and the interpretation of ambiguity

A number of studies have produced findings consistent with the possibility that depressives display a negative bias in interpretation. However, the results of such studies can equally well be explained by the operation of a depression-linked response bias, reflecting an elevated tendency for depressives to emit or endorse negatively-toned response options. The present experiment compares the patterns of interpretative processing displayed by subjects who differ in their BDI scores, using a priming methodology developed by anxiety researchers to eliminate the contaminating influence of emotional response bias. The pattern of priming effects obtained provides no evidence to support the existence of a negative interpretative bias in the more depressive individuals. Indeed, quite the reverse conclusion is sustained by the findings, which indicate that high BDI subjects showed an attenuated tendency to activate the more negative interpretations of the ambiguous textual stimuli. The conceptual and methodological implications of these findings are discussed, together with some specific suggestions for future research on this topic.     

广泛性焦虑个体的注意偏向

探讨广泛性焦虑个体在一般情境和不确定性情境下注意偏向的特点。采用点探测注意搜索任务研究了在一般情境下和不确定性情境下广泛性焦虑个体的注意偏向, 结果表明高广泛性焦虑个体的注意偏向以对威胁性刺激的注意转移困难为主, 不确定性情境会让广泛性焦虑个体更容易处于紧张焦虑的状态当中, 从而对情绪性刺激尤其是消极刺激表现出更多的注意偏向和对情绪性刺激直接的注意敏感性。