Seeing through rose-colored glasses: How optimistic expectancies guide visual attention

Kress, Laura; Bristle, Mirko; Aue, Tatjana

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0193311

Cited by 29 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…We induced expectancies about future gains and losses and examined their influence on attention to stimuli signaling reward (gain) and punishment (loss). First, in line with earlier findings in the field 12 , we anticipated that both optimistic and pessimistic expectancies guide attention to congruent rather than incongruent information (optimistic expectancies to reward rather than punishment and pessimistic expectancies to punishment rather than reward), whereas processing of incongruent information enhances SN/ECN activity (congruency hypothesis) 22 .…”

supporting

confidence: 60%

“…A similar version of this figure was previously published in a manuscript reporting behavioral data of another study using the same experimental design ( Fig. 1) 12 . and the pessimistic cues differed in valence only.…”

Section: Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…Stimuli and experimental task of the current study are identical to Experiment 2 reported in our earlier publication 12 . In each trial, participants were presented with a fixation cross for 2000-3000 ms (jittered presentation) followed by a visual cue presented for 1500 ms (Fig.…”

Section: Procedurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…After the detection period had elapsed, another fixation cross was presented for 0-2000 ms before the next trial appeared (total trial duration: 10 s). This task and design was chosen based on prior work investigating expectancy-attention interactions in our lab 12,20,29,30 . E-Prime 2.0 Professional (Psychology Software Tools, Sharpsburg, PA, USA) was used to present stimuli and record our participants' responses (button presses including reaction times).…”

Section: Procedurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, and most important, as prior findings suggest that optimism bias is maintained through asymmetric processing of feedback (i.e., greater weight being given to positive than negative feedback) 23 and we have already shown that such asymmetric processing may be rooted in particularly powerful effects of optimistic expectancies on attention 12 , we hypothesized that optimistic expectancies have a stronger impact on attention and SN/ECN activity than pessimistic ones do (asymmetry hypothesis). Notably, our first replication step (congruency hypothesis) was intended to identify congruency sensitive SN/ECN brain regions that could then be tested for asymmetric processing, i.e.…”

mentioning

confidence: 90%

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The effect of optimistic expectancies on attention bias: Neural and behavioral correlates

Singh

Schüpbach

Moser

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Optimism bias and positive attention bias are important features of healthy information processing. Recent findings suggest dynamic bidirectional optimism-attention interactions, but the underlying neural mechanisms remain to be identified. The current functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, therefore, investigated the neural mechanisms underlying causal effects of optimistic expectancies on attention. We hypothesized that expectancies guide attention to confirmatory evidence in the environment, with enhanced salience and executive control network (SN/ECN) activity for unexpected information. Moreover, based on previous findings, we anticipated optimistic expectancies to more strongly impact attention and SN/ECN activity than pessimistic expectancies. Expectancies were induced with visual cues in 50 participants; subsequent attention to reward and punishment was assessed in a visual search task. As hypothesized, cues shortened reaction times to expected information, and unexpected information enhanced SN/ECN activity. Notably, these effects were stronger for optimistic than pessimistic expectancy cues. Our findings suggest that optimistic expectancies involve particularly strong predictions of reward, causing automatic guidance of attention to reward and great surprise about unexpected punishment. Such great surprise may be counteracted by visual avoidance of the punishing evidence, as revealed by prior evidence, thereby reducing the need to update (over)optimistic reward expectancies.Most of us are overly optimistic about our future 1,2 . This optimism bias and similar cognitive phenomena such as positive attention bias (preferably attending to positive vs. neutral information in our environment 3 ) influence the way we see the world. Despite the fact that both biases are considered as important features of healthy information processing 1,4,5 and share an association with positive health outcomes 6,7 , optimism bias and positive attention bias have mostly been examined separately.The combined cognitive biases hypothesis suggests that cognitive biases usually interact and mutually enforce each other and, together, have a greater impact than each bias on its own 8,9 . The combined cognitive biases hypothesis was originally proposed based on findings of a reciprocal relationship between negative self-imagery and biased interpretation in social phobia but has soon been extended to other psychological disorders such as depression (e.g. interacting biases in attention, interpretation, memory, cognitive control) 10 and anxiety (e.g., expectancy and attention bias interactions) 8 .Moreover, we 11 have argued that cognitive bias interactions are not restricted to negative biases that maintain psychological dysfunction. Instead, they may well translate to positivity biases promoting psychological function. Specifically, we proposed a bidirectional interplay, namely (a) optimistic expectancies guide attention to positive information in the environment, and (b) directing attention to positive information enhanc...

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supporting

confidence: 60%

Section: Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Procedurementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Procedurementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 90%

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The effect of optimistic expectancies on attention bias: Neural and behavioral correlates

Singh

Schüpbach

Moser

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

Self Cite

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Within‐network brain connectivity during a social optimism task is related to personal optimism and optimism for in‐group members

Moser

Dricu

Kotikalapudi

et al. 2023

Human Brain Mapping

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Optimism bias is the tendency to believe desirable events are more likely to happen than undesirable ones. People often display optimistic biases for themselves (personal optimism), but also for members of groups they like or identify with (social optimism). However, the neural bases of and connections between these two concepts are poorly understood. The present study hence used both questionnaires and a social optimism task performed during magnetic resonance imaging to investigate how network connectivity associates with personal and social optimism biases. Using sparse canonical correlation analysis, we found that a behavioral dimension that included both in-group optimism bias and personal optimism bias was positively associated with a dimension of network connectivity. This dimension comprised two networks with positive weights (dorsal precuneus-related default mode network and dorsal sensorimotor network), and three with negative weights (including parts of the salience and central executive networks). Our findings indicate that connectivity in networks adjacent to the temporoparietal junction favors propagation of both personal and social optimism biases. Meanwhile, low connectivity in more frontal networks associated with more complex cognition may also further such propagation.

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Inducing Affective Learning Biases with Cognitive Training and Prefrontal tDCS: A Proof-of-Concept Study

2020

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Background Cognitive models of mood disorders emphasize a causal role of negative affective biases in depression. Computational work suggests that these biases may stem from a belief that negative events have a higher information content than positive events, resulting in preferential processing of and learning from negative outcomes. Learning biases therefore represent a promising target for therapeutic interventions. In this proof-of-concept study in healthy volunteers, we assessed the malleability of biased reinforcement learning using a novel cognitive training paradigm and concurrent transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Methods In two studies, young healthy adults completed two sessions of negative (n = 20) or positive (n = 20) training designed to selectively increase learning from loss or win outcomes, respectively. During training active or sham tDCS was applied bilaterally to dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Analyses tested for changes both in learning rates and win- and loss-driven behaviour. Potential positive/negative emotional transfer of win/loss learning was assessed by a facial emotion recognition task and mood questionnaires. Results Negative and positive training increased learning rates for losses and wins, respectively. With negative training, there was also a trend for win (but not loss) learning rates to decrease over successive task blocks. After negative training, there was evidence for near transfer in the form of an increase in loss-driven choices when participants performed a similar (untrained) task. There was no change in far transfer measures of emotional face processing or mood. tDCS had no effect on any aspect of behaviour. Discussion and Conclusions Negative training induced a mild negative bias in healthy adults as reflected in loss-driven choice behaviour. Prefrontal tDCS had no effect. Further research is needed to assess if this training procedure can be adapted to enhance learning from positive outcomes and whether effects translate to affective disorders.

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Seeing through rose-colored glasses: How optimistic expectancies guide visual attention

Cited by 29 publications

References 51 publications

The effect of optimistic expectancies on attention bias: Neural and behavioral correlates

The effect of optimistic expectancies on attention bias: Neural and behavioral correlates

Within‐network brain connectivity during a social optimism task is related to personal optimism and optimism for in‐group members

Inducing Affective Learning Biases with Cognitive Training and Prefrontal tDCS: A Proof-of-Concept Study

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