Emotional intelligence and attentional bias for threat‐related emotion under stress

Emotional intelligence (EI ) can buffer potentially harmful effects of situational and chronic stressors to safeguard psychological wellbeing (e.g., Mikolajczak, Petrides, Coumans & Luminet, 2009 ), yet understanding how and when EI operates to promote adaptation remains a research priority. We explored whether EI (both trait and ability) modulated early attentional processing of threat‐related emotion under conditions of stress. Using a dot probe paradigm, eye movement (fixation to emotive facial stimuli, relative to neutral) and manual reaction time data were collected from 161 adults aged 18–57 years (mean age = 25.24; SD = 8.81) exposed to either a stressful (failure task) or non‐stressful (control) situation. Whilst emotion management ability and trait wellbeing corresponded to avoidance of negative emotion (angry and sad respectively), high trait sociability and emotionality related to a bias for negative emotions. With most effects not restricted to stressful conditions, it is unclear whether EI underscores ‘adaptive’ processing, which carries implications for school‐based social and emotional learning programs.     

Combined behavioural markers of cognitive biases are associated with anhedonia

Biases towards negative information, as well as away from positive information, are associated with psychopathology. Examining biases in multiple processes has been theorised to be more predictive than examining bias in any process alone. Anhedonia is a core symptom of psychopathology and predictive of future psychopathological symptoms. Finding that combined biases are associated with anhedonia would advance knowledge of the nature of emotional processing biases and the value of objective performance-based measures for identifying early risk markers. Participants (N?=?139) completed tasks that assess latency bias (dot probe) and biased recognition (two-alternative forced-choice) of emotional information, as well as an anhedonia measure. An index was computed for each task’s performance reflecting biased processing of positive and negative words. Only combined biases on both tasks were associated with anhedonia. Attentional bias was positively associated with anhedonia, but only when recognition bias for emotional words was high. Thus, assessing biases in multiple domains increased sensitivity to uncover relationships between emotional processing biases and anhedonic symptoms.     

ERP correlates of attentional processing in spider fear: evidence of threat-specific hypervigilance

Attentional bias towards threat can be demonstrated by enhanced processing of threat-related targets and/or greater interference when threat-related distractors are present. These effects are argued to reflect processing within the orienting and executive control networks of the brain respectively. This study investigated behavioural (RT) and electrophysiological correlates of early selective attention and top-down attentional control among females with high (n?=?16) or low (n?=?16) spider fear (Mean age?=?22 years). Participants completed a novel flanker go/nogo task in which a central schematic flower or spider stimulus was flanked by either congruent or incongruent distractors. Participants responded to green stimuli (go trials) and withheld response to yellow stimuli (nogo trials). High fear participants demonstrated significantly shorter reaction times and greater P1 amplitude to spider targets, suggesting specific hypervigilance towards threat-relevant stimuli. In contrast to predictions, there was little evidence for behavioural interference effects or differences in N2 amplitude when distractor stimuli were threat-relevant.     

相貌负面身体自我女性对相貌词的注意偏向眼动的证据

采用改进的点探测范式并结合眼动技术, 以相貌词(积极和消极)为刺激材料, 实验中积极相貌词?中性词、消极相貌词?中性词、积极相貌词?消极相貌词以及中性词?中性词配对呈现, 考察了相貌负面身体自我女性对相貌词的注意偏向及其时间进程。眼动数据的结果发现, 在积极相貌词?中性词和消极相貌词?中性词条件下, 与控制组相比, 相貌负面身体自我女性的首视点更频繁地指向消极相貌词, 对消极相貌词探测速度更快, 并且首视点维持在此类词语上的时间更长, 但未发现总体的注视时间偏向; 与积极相貌相比较时, 相貌负面身体自我女性呈现与上述相同的结果, 此时的注意模式为警觉?脱离困难。此外, 相貌负面身体自我的女性还表现出对积极相貌词的减速探测偏向。行为证据进一步显示, 相貌负面身体自我女性对消极相貌词存在注意脱离困难。在积极相貌词?消极相貌词配对条件下, 相貌负面身体自我女性对消极相貌词也表现出注意脱离困难。以上结果表明, 相貌负面身体自我女性对消极相貌词表现出警觉?脱离困难的注意偏向。     

工作记忆表征的激活与抑制状态对注意引导效应的影响

本研究采用双任务范式, 通过定向遗忘任务操纵工作记忆表征状态, 分别在目标无关和目标相关条件下考察工作记忆激活与抑制状态对视觉搜索早期注意引导效应的影响。实验1与实验2发现当工作记忆表征只可能与视觉搜索分心物匹配时(目标无关条件), 处于激活状态的工作记忆表征会引导视觉注意偏向到与之匹配的分心物, 表现出注意引导效应, 而处于抑制状态的工作记忆表征则没有观察到注意引导效应。实验3与实验4发现, 当工作记忆表征有可能与视觉搜索目标匹配时(目标相关条件), 处于激活状态的工作记忆表征能捕获注意, 而处于抑制状态的工作记忆表征只有与视觉搜索目标匹配时, 才表现出对该搜索目标反应的延迟。这些研究的结果表明(1)处于激活状态的工作记忆表征能有效地引导注意偏向到与之匹配的搜索目标或分心物, 并且这种注意引导效应并未受到抑制动机的影响而被消除或反转; (2)处于抑制状态的工作记忆表征能将抑制状态传递到视觉搜索阶段, 并延迟对与之匹配的搜索目标的反应。     

注意资源对正常人消极情绪偏向的影响

本研究以正常人为研究对象,分别采用词汇判断任务和后掩蔽范式,以两个行为实验考察了阈上/阈下两种情况下,注意资源的多少对消极情绪偏向的影响.结果发现,在阈上条件下,只有当注意资源缺乏时,才能出现消极情绪偏向;在阈下条件下,无论注意资源多少,都没有出现消极情绪偏向.表明消极情绪偏向在正常人中的出现不是"无条件的",而是受到注意资源多少的影响.     

无意识目标追求的行为特征、机制及影响因素

无意识目标追求是指个体自动地追求由情境线索激活的目标, 而全然不知目标对自己行为的导向作用。无意识目标追求具有灵活性、抑制性和坚持性。无意识目标追求经由行动的无意识准备和目标价值的自动评估与努力过程实现。积极情绪、内隐态度和人际关系影响无意识目标追求。未来研究需要进一步探讨无意识目标追求的影响因素, 完善无意识目标追求的机制, 探究无意识目标追求结果对个体心理和行为的影响, 提高研究结果的生态效度, 拓展应用研究。     

自我姓名加工的相对独特性：来自RSVP的证据

研究采用注意瞬脱的双任务RSVP范式通过操纵T1任务知觉负载水平的高低及T1-T2间的延迟长短,检验不同负载和延迟条件被试对陌生姓名、明星姓名和自我姓名的识别正确率。研究发现,自我姓名加工具有明显的注意瞬脱对抗效应,体现出加工的独特性,但其独特性受负载及延迟条件的影响,且明星姓名在一定条件下也出现了与之相近注意瞬脱的对抗效应,证明自我姓名加工具有相对的独特性。     

基于快速系列视觉呈现范式的自我-他人面孔注意瞬脱效应研究

实验采用快速系列视觉呈现范式（Rapid serial visual presentation, RSVP）,观测自我面孔和他人面孔图片分别作为靶刺激和探测刺激时是否会出现注意瞬脱（Attentional Blink）现象。结果发现,如果探测刺激是自我面孔,被试识别正确率显著高于他人面孔,尤其当T1是他人面孔时,可使注意瞬脱完全消失;靶刺激和探测刺激均为他人面孔时,出现注意瞬脱现象。说明自我面孔不仅有很强的注意抢夺能力,也有很强的注意持续把持能力。     

注意偏向训练：起源、效果与机制

近年来注意偏向被证明是一些心理疾病产生、维持和复发的原因。因此, 注意偏向训练成为一种前景性的治疗方法, 对低自尊、焦虑障碍、物质成瘾有良好的干预效果。它可能作用于注意的晚期加工阶段, 通过调节 “自上而下”的注意系统来改变相关症状。干预效果的条件、机制与神经机制的探索应成为今后的研究方向。