Reducing attention bias in spider fear by manipulating expectancies

Abado, Elinor; Sagi, Jasmine; Silber, Nir; Houwer, Jan De; Aue, Tatjana; Okon‐Singer, Hadas

doi:10.1016/j.brat.2020.103729

Cited by 18 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Correspondingly, a series of studies addressed the causal interaction between expectancy and attention bias in spider phobia (71)(72)(73). Moreover, manipulation of expectancies and frequencies can reduce attention bias in fear of spiders (74). Thus, integrating between cognitive biases is crucial for a deeper understanding of cognitive processes in anxiety and can help in developing effective cognitive bias modification methods (75) aimed at enabling concerned individuals to undergo potentially life-saving medical procedures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cognitive Biases in Blood-Injection-Injury Phobia: A Review

2021

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Blood-injection-injury (BII) phobia can lead to avoidance of crucial medical procedures and to detrimental health consequences, even among health workers. Yet unlike other specific phobias, BII phobia has been understudied. Specifically, while cognitive biases have been extensively investigated in other anxiety disorders, little is known about the same biases in BII phobia. The current article reviews cognitive biases in BII phobia and suggest future directions for further study and treatment. The reviewed biases include attention, expectancy, memory, perception, and interpretation biases. The investigation of these biases is highly relevant, as cognitive biases have been found to interact with anxiety symptoms. Results showed that attention, expectancy, and memory biases are involved in BII phobia, while no studies were found on interpretation nor perception biases. Mixed results were found for attention bias, as different studies found different components of attention bias, while others found no attention bias at all. Similarly, some studies found a-priori/a-posteriori expectancy biases, while other studies found only one type of bias. A better understanding of the cognitive particularities of BII phobia may lead to better treatments and ultimately reduce avoidance of needles and blood-related situations, thereby enabling individuals with BII phobia to undergo potentially life-saving medical procedures.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As mentioned earlier, reduction of attention bias can also be achieved using manipulations of expectancy and frequencies [e.g., (74)]. Expectancy manipulation can also be used with applied tension, to maximize the treatment's benefits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive Biases in Blood-Injection-Injury Phobia: A Review

2021

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“…Individuals with depression symptoms exhibit evidence of biased attention, interpretation, expectancy and memory (18). Beyond examining whether biased cognitions exist in psychiatric disorders, research has also placed emphasis on understanding the causal relations among cognitive biases [e.g., the effect of manipulated expectancies on participants' attention bias; (33)] and the relationships between the factors moderating cognitive biases [e.g., (32,33)]. Studies also seek to use accumulating knowledge regarding cognitive biases to improve diagnosis of psychiatric disorders [e.g., see (18,21) for an example of a diagnostic support system based on cognitive performance aimed at better differentiating between depression and anxiety diagnoses].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Social Experiences Affect Interpretation Bias Among Individuals With Non-clinical Depression: The Role of Ostracism

et al. 2022

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BackgroundExtensive knowledge and research indicate that interpretation bias is very common among individuals with sub-clinical and clinical levels of depression. Nevertheless, little is known about the role of social experiences in enhancing interpretation bias. Given the major relevance of social experiences in the context of depression, the present study investigated the role of potential interactions between social experiences and levels of depression symptoms in the interpretation of ambiguous information.MethodSeventy participants underwent a laboratory controlled manipulation either of social ostracism or of overinclusion. Participants completed a computerized task that measured both direct and indirect interpretation bias and reported their level of depression symptoms.ResultsThe findings show that ostracism enhanced interpretation bias when symptom levels were higher, while overinclusion did not. This interaction effect between social ostracism and symptom level was found both for direct and for indirect interpretation bias.ConclusionWhereas previous research showed the existence of interpretation bias among people with symptoms of depression, the present study expands previous knowledge by shedding light on the conditions under which interpretation bias emerges, suggesting that ostracism enhances negative interpretation of ambiguous information when levels of depression symptoms are higher.

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“…For instance, selective attention to fear-related features in an environment may intensify expectancies of being harmed. Lately, the reverse link (i.e., expectancy effects on attentional deployment) has been examined in several studies (e.g., Abado et al, 2020;Aue et al, 2013Aue et al, , 2019Mohanty et al, 2009). Specifically, people's expectancies (related to encounter expectancy likelihood) were manipulated by different cues, and vigilance to threat targets was subsequently tested in different visual search paradigms.…”

Section: Interactions Between Expectancies and Other Information Proc...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Clearly, tedious investigations of causality necessitate additional considerations. One such consideration relates to variations due to the individual setting, with the potential of different links holding for different contexts (e.g., imagination vs. real-life settings, high vs. low number of distractors presented, or equal vs. unbalanced presentation frequency of threat vs. neutral stimuli in a visual search matrix; see Abado et al, 2020). Furthermore, links between attention and expectancies may differ depending on whether automatic or more controlled processing is considered.…”

Section: Interactions Between Expectancies and Other Information Proc...mentioning

confidence: 99%