Intergenerational transmission of attentional bias and anxiety

Earlier evidence has revealed a bi‐directional causal relationship between anxiety and attention biases in adults and children. This study investigated the prospective and concurrent relations between anxiety and attentional bias in a sample of 89 families (mothers, fathers, and first‐born children). Parents’ and children's attentional bias was measured when children were 7.5 years old, using both a visual probe task and visual search task with angry versus happy facial expressions. Generalized and social anxiety symptoms in parents and children were measured when children were 4.5 and 7.5 years old. Anxiety in parents and children was prospectively (but not concurrently) related to their respective attentional biases to threat: All participants showed a larger attentional bias to threat in the visual search (but not in the visual probe) task if they were more anxious at the 4.5 (but not at the 7.5) year measurement. Moreover, parents’ anxiety levels were prospectively predictive of the visual search attentional bias of their children after controlling for child anxiety. More anxiety in mothers at 4.5 years was related to a faster detection of angry among happy faces, while more anxiety in fathers predicted a faster detection of happy among angry faces in children at 7.5 years. We found no direct association between parental and child attentional biases. Our study contributes to the recently emerging literature on attentional biases as a potential mechanism in the intergenerational transmission of anxiety by showing that parents’ anxiety rather than parents’ attentional bias contributes to the intergenerational transmission of risk for child anxiety.     

社交焦虑注意偏向的动态变化

注意偏向是社交焦虑障碍(Social Anxiety Disorder, SAD)个体症状维持的重要因素, 其中注意警觉、注意回避、注意脱离困难三种注意模式得到了研究者最广泛的研究与讨论。随着研究深入, 有研究者提出SAD个体的注意模式不是单一、静态模式, 更有可能在不同注意模式间切换, 表现为动态的过程。目前, 依据相关研究结果和理论假设, 证据均指向SAD个体的注意偏向具有随着焦虑水平提高和注意控制能力受损而动态变化的倾向, 从注意警觉过渡到注意回避与注意脱离困难均如此。此观点还需研究进一步证实, 并且基于研究结果提出更具有针对性的干预方式。     

社会性信息对Flanker效应的影响

研究显示,面孔Flanker任务中,经典Flanker效应会消失,但其机制还不明确。本文在ANT-I范式的基础上,除常规的箭头Flanker,增加面孔Flanker、两侧为箭头中间为面孔和两侧为面孔中间为箭头的混合Flanker,探究造成该现象的可能原因。结果发现,当Flanker任务中的干扰刺激为箭头时,Flanker效应存在;而干扰刺激为面孔时,Flanker效应则消失了。提示,Flanker任务中干扰刺激的社会性可能是造成Flanker效应消失的原因。这为冲突信息加工中社会性与非社会性信息的控制机制提供了新的视角。     

Anticipatory versus reactive spatial attentional bias to threat

Dot‐probe or visual probe tasks (VPTs) are used extensively to measure attentional biases. A novel variant termed the cued VPT (cVPT) was developed to focus on the anticipatory component of attentional bias. This study aimed to establish an anticipatory attentional bias to threat using the cVPT and compare its split‐half reliability with a typical dot‐probe task. A total of 120 students performed the cVPT task and dot‐probe tasks. Essentially, the cVPT uses cues that predict the location of pictorial threatening stimuli, but on trials on which probe stimuli are presented the pictures do not appear. Hence, actual presentation of emotional stimuli did not affect responses. The reliability of the cVPT was higher at most cue–stimulus intervals and was .56 overall. A clear anticipatory attentional bias was found. In conclusion, the cVPT may be of methodological and theoretical interest. Using visually neutral predictive cues may remove sources of noise that negatively impact reliability. Predictive cues are able to bias response selection, suggesting a role of predicted outcomes in automatic processes.     

The Influence of Attentional Focus on Balance Control over Seven Days of Training

This study examined the training effect of attentional focus (external focus, internal focus, or no focus instructions) on a dynamic balance task. Participants completed baseline balance testing, seven consecutive days of dynamic balance board training, and retention testing 24 hours after the last session. The novel finding of this study was the presence of a training effect on balance control when adopting an external focus relative to an internal focus or no focus instructions. Further, we report the unique observation that more patterned behavior was adopted regardless of the focus instructions. These findings provide insight into how instructions can be altered to enhance human balance control and complement the constrained-action hypothesis.     

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。     

Attention to negative words predicts daily rumination among people with clinical depression: evidence from an eye tracking and daily diary study

The present study examined relationships between attention to negative words and daily rumination and daily adjustment in a sample of clinically depressed individuals. We recorded eye movements of 43 individuals diagnosed with major depression while they were freely viewing dysphoric, threat-related, neutral, and positive words. Then, each day for one week, participants provided measures of their daily rumination and psychological adjustment. Multilevel analyses found that attention to dysphoric and threat-related words was positively related to daily rumination and attention to threat-related words was negatively related to daily adjustment. These findings suggest that the impaired ability to disengage from negative words is positively related to rumination in daily life and is negatively related to well-being, as defined in terms of Beck’s Triad.     

Brief report: Attentional Control Moderates the Relationship Between Attentional Bias and Anxiety in Children

This current study tested whether attentional control moderates the relationship between attentional bias to threat and anxiety in children. Children completed a self-report measure of attentional control and anxiety and an attentional bias task. Attentional control was examined as a moderator in the relationship between attentional bias and different dimensions of anxiety. The interaction between attentional control and attentional bias was significant for total and generalized anxiety. Although attentional control significantly moderated the relationship between attentional bias and anxiety, the direction of the interaction was not consistent with existing literature. Study implications and explanations for the study results are discussed.     

篮球运动员视觉工作记忆对注意控制的影响

采用视觉搜索任务范式,以不同工作记忆容量的篮球运动员作为研究参与者,探讨了视觉工作记忆对自上而下注意控制的影响。结果表明,不同视觉工作记忆容量的篮球运动员的注意控制能力存在差异,高视觉工作记忆容量组的成绩略优于低视觉工作记忆容量的篮球运动员;视觉工作记忆中信息性质影响注意控制,其影响作用是通过记忆项目特征与目标项目特征相匹配的情况来实现,这个影响过程不受视觉工作记忆容量大小的调节。     

不同熟练双语儿童注意定向中的抑制控制

研究目的：探讨不同熟练双语儿童“注意定向”成分中抑制控制的差异,及这一差异是否依赖于双语儿童第二语言的熟练程度。方法：采用IOR范式的行为实验。被试为平衡、未平衡双语儿童和单语儿童。结果：SOA600ms时,三组被试均出现了IOR,平衡双语儿童与单语儿童的IOR效应量差异显著,其余被试间差异均不显著。结论：（1）双语学习促进了平衡双语儿童抑制控制能力的发展。（2）双语学习对抑制控制能力的促进作用依赖于双语儿童第二语言的熟练程度。