The association between self-report and behavioural measure of attentional control: Evidence of no relationship between ACS scores and antisaccade performance

2022 ◽  
Vol 184 ◽  
pp. 111168
Author(s):  
Jemma Todd ◽  
Lies Notebaert ◽  
Patrick J.F. Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Control ◽  
Self Report

scholarly journals Attentional control in subclinical anxiety and depression: depression symptoms are associated with deficits in target facilitation, not distractor inhibition

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra C Pike ◽  
Frida Printzlau ◽  
Alexander H. von Lautz ◽  
catherine harmer ◽  
Mark G. Stokes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Predictive Coding ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Distractor Inhibition ◽  
Attention Tasks

Mood and anxiety disorders are associated with deficits in attentional control involving emotive and non-emotive stimuli. Current theories focus on impaired attentional inhibition of distracting stimuli in producing these deficits. However, standard attention tasks struggle to separate distractor inhibition from target facilitation. Here, we investigate whether distractor inhibition underlies these deficits using neutral stimuli in a behavioural task specifically designed to tease apart these two attentional processes. Healthy participants performed a four-location Posner cueing paradigm and completed self-report questionnaires measuring depressive symptoms and trait anxiety. Using regression analyses, we found no relationship between distractor inhibition and mood symptoms or trait anxiety. However, we find a relationship between target facilitation and depression. Specifically, higher depressive symptoms were associated with reduced target facilitation in a task-version in which the target location repeated over a block of trials. We suggest this may relate to findings previously linking depression with deficits in predictive coding in clinical populations.

scholarly journals Feature Specific Attention and Return of Fear after Extinction

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom J. Barry ◽  
Bram Vervliet ◽  
Dirk Hermans
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Common Condition ◽  
Similar Stimulus ◽  
Return Of Fear ◽  
The Common ◽  
Fear Potentiated Startle ◽  
Report Measure ◽  
Unique Condition

Anxiety disorders are often treated by repeatedly presenting stimuli that are perceptually similar to original stimuli to which fear was originally acquired. Fear can return after it is extinguished because of the differences between these stimuli. It may possible to attenuate return of fear by manipulating attention to the commonalities between feared stimuli and extinction stimuli. After acquiring fear for an animal-like stimulus by pairing with an electro-cutaneous shock, fear was extinguished by repeatedly presenting a similar stimulus. During extinction participants were asked questions that instructed them to attend towards the features in common between the acquisition and extinction stimulus or towards the unique features of the extinction stimulus. Return of fear was assessed by presenting a second perceptually similar stimulus after extinction. Participants showed a return in skin conductance responding after extinction in the unique condition, and not in the common condition. Both groups showed a return in self-report ratings of US expectancy. Neither group showed a return in fear potentiated startle, but there was evidence that this may have been due to individual differences in emotional attentional control. Our conclusions are limited by the use of a self-report measure of emotional attentional control and the absence of limits on the length of time participants could take to answer the extinction questions. It may be possible to enhance extinction and prevent a return of the physiological aspects of fear by manipulating attention during extinction. However, this does not appear to influence explicit expectancy of aversive outcomes. Individual differences in attentional control may influence this process.

scholarly journals Are reinforcement sensitivity personality constructs and attentional control important predictors of restrictive disordered eating?

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 25-34
Author(s):  
Andrew R. Du Rocher ◽  
Jessica Barker ◽  
Monika I. Chalupka ◽  
Anna France ◽  
Raisa S. Habib ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disordered Eating ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Trait Mindfulness ◽  
Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory ◽  
Behavioural Inhibition ◽  
Approach And Avoidance ◽  
Reinforcement Sensitivity ◽  
History Of

The revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (rRST) perspective on personality suggests that a neuropsychological behavioural inhibition system (BIS), behavioural approach system (BAS), and a fight-flight-freeze system (FFFS) produce the key personality traits involved in approach and avoidance behaviours. This perspective on personality can be used as a framework for understanding psychopathology. Self-report research on rRST suggests that restrictive disordered eating relates to elevated BIS sensitivity, elevated FFFS sensitivity, and possibly dysfunctional BAS sensitivity. Disordered eating can also relate to reduced trait mindfulness, which is a broadly defined construct. Trait mindfulness is positively correlated with attentional control (AC) which is a more specific component of our cognitive architecture that incorporates attentional focusing and attentional shifting processes. It is unknown how BIS and AC interact to predict restrictive disordered eating. We tested how self-reported BIS, BAS, and FFFS sensitivity, AC, and trait mindfulness relate to restrictive disordered eating in 464 healthy participants, and 177 participants with a history of psychiatric disorder. We provide new evidence that elevated restrictive disordered eating relates to reduced self-reported AC abilities (in addition to elevated BIS, and elevated FFFS sensitivity). We illustrate that the combination of high BIS and low AC predicts high levels of restrictive disordered eating (but not in all participants), whereas low BIS and high AC predicts lower levels of restrictive disordered eating (but not in all participants). We discuss how understanding the relationship between personality and attentional control can inform the design of future intervention studies.  

Attentional lapses cannot explain the worst performance rule

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Löffler ◽  
Gidon T. Frischkorn ◽  
Jan Rummel ◽  
Dirk Hagemann ◽  
Anna-Lena Schubert
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Time Distribution ◽  
Hierarchical Modeling ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Intuitive Appeal ◽  
Attentional Lapses

The worst performance rule describes the often-observed phenomenon that individuals' slowest responses in a task are more predictive of their intelligence than their fastest or average responses. To explain this phenomenon, Larson and Alderton (1990) suggested that occasional lapses of attention might result in slower reaction times. Because less intelligent individuals are more likely to experience lapses of attention, they should show a more heavily skewed reaction time distribution, causing an increase in correlations between reaction times and intelligence across the percentiles of the distribution. The attentional lapses account has been well-received, not least because of to its intuitive appeal, but has never been subjected to a direct empirical test. Using state-of-the-art hierarchical modeling approaches to quantify and test the worst performance rule, we investigated in a sample of 98 participants if different behavioral, self-report, and neural measures of attentional control accounted for the phenomenon. Notably, no measure of attentional lapses accounted for increasing covariances between intelligence and reaction time from best to worst performance. Hence, our results challenge the attentional lapses account of the worst performance rule.

scholarly journals Attentional Control as a Predictor of Response to Psychological Treatment for Depression and Relapse up to 1 year After Treatment: A Pilot Cohort Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.E.J. Buckman ◽  
R. Saunders ◽  
P. Fearon ◽  
J. Leibowitz ◽  
S. Pilling
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Psychological Treatment ◽  
Post Treatment ◽  
Drop Out ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Residual Symptoms ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Pre Treatment ◽  
Report Measure

Background: Identifying depressed patients unlikely to reach remission and those likely to relapse after reaching remission is of great importance, but there are few pre-treatment factors that can help clinicians predict prognosis and together these explain relatively little variance in treatment outcomes. Attentional control has shown promise in studies to date, but has not been investigated prospectively in routine clinical settings with depressed patients. Aims: This study aimed to pilot the use of a brief self-report measure of attentional control in routine care and investigate the associations between attentional control, psychological treatment response and relapse to depression up to 1 year post-treatment. Method: Depressed patients were recruited from two primary care psychological treatment (IAPT) services and completed the Attentional Control Scale (ACS) alongside routine symptom measures at every therapy session. Participants were tracked and followed up for 1 year post-treatment. Results: Baseline ACS scores were associated with remission and residual depressive symptoms post-treatment, and relapse within 12 months of ending treatment, all independent of pre-treatment depressive symptom severity, and the latter also independent of residual symptoms. Conclusion: A self-report measure of attentional control can potentially be used to predict levels of depressive symptoms post-treatment and can contribute to predicting risk of relapse to depression in IAPT services, without affecting rates of therapy completion/drop-out or data completion of standard IAPT measures. However, this pilot study had a small overall sample size and a very small number of observed relapses, so replication in a larger study is needed before firm conclusions can be made.

scholarly journals Attentional control associated with core cognitive maintenance factors of social anxiety

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 204380871879807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel A. Sluis ◽  
Mark J. Boschen ◽  
David L. Neumann ◽  
Karen Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Repetitive Negative Thinking ◽  
Maintenance Factors ◽  
Anticipatory Processing ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Regulation Of Emotion ◽  
The Relationship

Models of social anxiety emphasize anticipatory processing (AP) and post-event processing (PEP) as repetitive negative thinking (RNT) processes that occur before and after social-evaluative events, respectively. Both AP and PEP have been implicated as maladaptive processes which maintain social anxiety. Accordingly, a common vulnerability, such as poor attentional control, may serve to maintain both. The present research included two separate samples to investigate the relationship between attentional control and AP (Sample 1) and PEP (Sample 2). Participants ( n = 49 for Sample 1; n = 35 for Sample 2) completed self-report measures of social anxiety, AP or PEP, attentional control, and trait anxiety. Poorer total attentional control was associated with social anxiety in both samples. In addition, attentional control total and attentional shifting were negatively associated with PEP (Sample 2) but not with AP (Sample 1). Mediation modeling suggested that trait anxiety mediated the relationship between total attentional control and PEP. The findings suggest that attentional control plays a role in the regulation of emotion, such as anxiety, and RNT processes, such as PEP, but not AP.

Is Television Viewing Really Bad for Your Imagination?: Content and Process of TV Viewing and Imaginal Styles

1986 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Schallow ◽  
Robert D. McIlwraith
Keyword(s):  
Internal Consistency ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Television Viewing ◽  
Negative Mood ◽  
Mood States ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Fear Of Failure ◽  
Tv Viewing ◽  
Retest Reliability ◽  
Test Retest Reliability

The purpose of this study was to relate daydreaming styles to TV programming viewed (content) and contextual aspects of how television is used (process). Content and process of TV viewing of 476 undergraduates were assessed by self-report inventories constructed for this study. Scales were factorially derived from these inventories which showed good interpretability, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. Daydreaming patterns were measured by the Short Imaginal Processes Inventory. Contrary to popular notions about the antagonism between TV use and positive fantasizing, certain TV contents (drama/comedy series, “classic” comedies, and music/entertainment) were associated with Positive-Constructive Daydreaming. Process more than content of TV use predicted negative styles of fantasizing: Guilt-Fear of Failure Daydreaming correlated with watching television during negative mood states and scanning channels while Poor Attentional Control involved both of these process dimensions and, in addition, using television to fill time.

Absorption and Mindfulness Reflect Distinct Patterns of Attentional Control and Self-Related Processing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus L. Leppanen ◽  
Kyungmi Kim
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
External Stimuli ◽  
Reflective Processing ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Gaining Insight

Abstract. Absorption and mindfulness are personality traits associated with experiencing states of highly-focused attention. Despite this apparent commonality, these two traits have rarely been directly compared, and little is known about what differentiates absorbed from mindful states. The present study explored how individual differences in the cognitive processes of attentional control and self-related processing relate to absorption and mindfulness. Participants completed four self-report measures assessing absorption, mindfulness, style of attentional control over internal/external stimuli, and self-related processing. Absorption and mindfulness were negatively correlated in our sample. Absorption was predicted by a propensity for stimulus-driven attention to external stimuli and frequent engagement in self-reflection without gaining insight into those reflections. Mindfulness was predicted by a propensity for goal-driven attentional control over external stimuli and a tendency to engage in insightful self-reflective processing. Our findings can inform research efforts to further elucidate cognitive mechanisms underlying the relationships of absorption and mindfulness with mental health.

The Role of Attentional Control in the Relationship Between Mindfulness and Anxiety

2019 ◽  
Vol 123 (3) ◽  
pp. 759-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Z. MacDonald ◽  
Anna Olsen
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Psychological Functioning ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Dispositional Mindfulness ◽  
Mediation Analyses ◽  
Mindfulness Skills ◽  
The Relationship

Mindfulness has been robustly associated with psychological health, predicting greater well-being, and lower levels of anxiety, depression, and stress across samples. Attentional control is the ability to voluntarily shift, focus, and train one’s attention and has also been linked with better psychological functioning. Less well-understood, however, are which domains of mindfulness may be associated with particular aspects of mental health, including anxiety, and whether attentional control may help to explain the relationship between specific facets of mindfulness and anxiety. This study examined self-reported shifting and focusing attentional control as mediators of the relationships between five domains of dispositional mindfulness (i.e., observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreacting) and symptoms of anxiety. Two hundred and eighty-six college students completed self-report questionnaires measuring dispositional mindfulness, attentional control, and symptoms of anxiety. Using mediation analyses, findings revealed an indirect effect of two facets of mindfulness on anxiety through focusing attentional control after controlling for shifting attentional control. These findings suggest that specific mindfulness skills are related to better attentional control skills, and that focusing attentional control may then protect against anxiety symptoms in college students. These results have critical implications for college students, who are experiencing anxiety and stress at increasing levels.

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