“I look there!” Attentional bias in individuals with high trait anxiety
Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The association between high trait anxiety and attentional bias has been extensively \nexplored (Bar-Haim et al., 2007; Van Bokstaele et al., 2014). The attentional bias is the \npropensity of individuals with high trait-anxiety to either direct attention towards threatrelated \nstimuli or the difficulty to disengage attention from them (Beck and Clarke \n1997; Eysenck 1992; Mathews 1990; Mathews and MacLeod 2002; Williams et al. \n1988; Bar-Haim et al. 2007). However, it is not possible to find a unique definition of \nattentional bias. In particular, while some studies show facilitated attentional orienting \ntowards stimuli evaluated as threatening, other experiments observe a difficulty in \ndisengaging attention from the emotionally relevant stimulus. The finding of different \nmechanisms underlying the bias could be due to some methodological choices. \nFirst of all, the choice of the experimental paradigm is particularly important. While the \nattentional bias evaluated through the Emotional Stroop Task provides information on \nthe ability to resolve the conflict in response to a threatening stimulus, the Dot-Probe \nTask and the Emotional Spatial Cueing Task analyse the attentional orienting to \nemotionally relevant stimuli. Secondly, the selection of stimuli could also influence the \nresults. In fact, according to the stimulus used (a word, a picture, or a face), the studies \nobserve different results. Finally, another relevant factor concerns the evaluation of \nattentional bias in woman and men. Although anxiety is a predominantly female \ndisorder (33.3% women; 22% men; McLean et al., 2011), few studies consider the \ngender. \nTo better understand the methodological issues in this field, this dissertation aimed to \ncompare three different stimuli (words, pictures and faces) and four paradigms \n(Emotional Stroop Task, Dot-Probe Task, Emotional Spatial Cueing Task and \nEmotional-Target Spatial Cueing Task) in men and women characterised by high vs. \nlow trait-anxiety. A few previous studies have considered the gender difference in the \nassessment of attentional bias in individuals with high vs. low trait-anxiety; the analysis \nof gender differences in the current thesis could represent an important factor in the \nevaluation of attentional bias. Specifically, males and females could adopt different \npattern in response to threatening stimuli, i.e. avoidance of stimulus, rapid attentional \norienting toward the stimulus or difficulties in attentional disengagement from the \nstimulus. \nIn the first chapter, a systematic review of the literature has tried to more clearly define \nthe inconsistencies between the results of studies on the attentional bias in individuals \nwith high trait-anxiety. According to the results of this systematic review, four \nexperiments were carried out. Each experiment used different paradigms and compared \ndifferent types of stimuli (pictures, words, and faces). The second chapter presents the \nfirst experiment in which an Emotional Stroop Task was administered; in the third \nchapter, a Dot-Probe Task was used; in the fourth chapter, an Emotional Spatial Cueing \nprocedure was employed (an emotional-relevance paradigm); finally, in the fifth \nchapter, an Emotional-Target Spatial Cueing procedure was adopted (emotionalirrelevance \nparadigm). In all the experiments both men and women participants were \ninvited to participate, and the gender of participants was included as a between \nparticipants factor in the analyses.
Author: Ilaria Boncompagni
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3201888309