Experimentally Modifying Interpretations for Positive and Negative Social Scenarios in Children: A Preliminary Investigation

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanos P. Vassilopoulos ◽  
Nicholas J. Moberly ◽  
Georgia Zisimatou
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Positive Events ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Social Events ◽  
Interpretation Biases ◽  
Training Control

Background: Past research suggests that socially anxious individuals display a tendency to interpret ambiguous and clearly valenced information in a threatening way. Interpretation training programs, in which individuals are trained to endorse benign rather than negative interpretations of ambiguous social scenarios, have proven effective for reducing anxiety-related cognitive biases. However, it is not clear whether the same paradigms are effective in modifying interpretation biases for clearly valenced social information. Method: In this experiment, a group of unselected children (aged 10–13 years) was trained to endorse the more positive of two possible interpretations of mildly negative and positive social events. Results: Data revealed that this group (n = 77) showed a decrease in catastrophic interpretations and an increase in neutral interpretations of mildly negative events compared to children in a no-training control group (n = 76). Furthermore, participants in the training condition showed an increase in positive interpretations and a trend for a decrease in discounting interpretations of positive events. However, training did not affect emotional ratings of mildly negative and positive events or trait social anxiety. Conclusions: Notwithstanding certain limitations of this pilot study, we believe that the results are promising with regard to modifying interpretative biases for clearly valenced vignettes, and that further study regarding the effects of training on mood is warranted.

scholarly journals Adult age differences in frequency estimations of happy and angry faces

2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Nikitin ◽  
Alexandra M. Freund
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
High Likelihood ◽  
Social Signals ◽  
Positive Events ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Adult Age ◽  
Social Events ◽  
The Difference

With increasing age, the ratio of gains to losses becomes more negative, which is reflected in expectations that positive events occur with a high likelihood in young adulthood, whereas negative events occur with a high likelihood in old age. Little is known about expectations of social events. Given that younger adults are motivated to establish new social relations, they should be vigilant towards signals of opportunities for socializing, such as smiling faces. Older adults, who are particularly motivated to avoid negative encounters, should be vigilant towards negative social signals, such as angry faces. Thus, younger adults should overestimate the occurrence of positive social signals, whereas older adults should overestimate the occurrence of negative social signals. Two studies (Study 1: n = 91 younger and n = 89 older adults; Study 2: n = 50 younger and n = 50 older adults) partly supported these hypotheses using frequency estimates of happy and angry faces. Although both younger and older adults overestimated the frequency of angry compared to happy faces, the difference was significantly more pronounced for older adults.

scholarly journals The KOALA-study: study protocol for a comprehensive study of cognitive biases in adolescent anorexia nervosa patients compared to healthy and clinical controls

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anca Sfärlea ◽  
Linda Lukas ◽  
Gerd Schulte-Körne ◽  
Belinda Platt
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Eating Disorder ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Memory Biases ◽  
Interpretation Biases ◽  
Clinical Control ◽  
Types Of Information

Abstract Background Anorexia nervosa (AN) is characterized by dysfunctional cognitions including cognitive biases at various levels of information processing. However, less is known about the specificity of these biases, i.e., if they occur for eating-disorder-related information alone or also for non-eating-disorder-related emotional information in AN patients (content-specificity) and if they are unique to individuals with AN or are also shown by individuals with other mental disorders (disorder-specificity). Methods The present study systematically assesses cognitive biases in 12–18-year-old female adolescents with AN on three levels of information processing (attention, interpretation, and memory) and with regard to two types of information content (eating-disorder-related, i.e., stimuli related to body weight and shape, and non-eating-disorder-related). To address not only content- but also disorder-specificity, adolescents with AN will be compared not only to a healthy control group but also to a clinical control group (adolescents with major depression or particular anxiety disorders). Cognitive biases are assessed within a single experimental paradigm based on the Scrambled Sentences Task. During the task eye movements are recorded in order to assess attention biases while interpretation biases are derived from the behavioural outcome. An incidental free recall test afterwards assesses memory biases. We expect adolescents with AN to show more pronounced negative cognitive biases on all three levels of information processing and for both types of content compared to healthy adolescents. In addition, we expect the specificity of biases to translate into differential results for the two types of content: AN patients are expected to show stronger biases for disorder-related stimuli but similar or less pronounced biases for non-disorder-related stimuli compared to the clinical control group. Discussion This is the first study to comprehensively assess cognitive biases in adolescents with AN. It will have essential implications not only for cognitive-behavioural models of AN but also for subsequent studies aiming to modify cognitive biases in this population, thereby addressing important maintaining factors already at an early stage of the disorder.

scholarly journals Focus on One or More? Cultural Similarities and Differences in How Parents Talk About Social Events to Preschool Children

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megumi Kuwabara ◽  
Linda B. Smith
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
The United States ◽  
Dependent Measure ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Social Event ◽  
Positive Events ◽  
Social Events ◽  
The Social ◽  
Puppet Show

How parents talk about social events shapes their children’s understanding of the social world and themselves. In this study, we show that parents in a society that more strongly values individualism (the United States) and one that more strongly values collectivism (Japan) differ in how they talk about negative social events, but not positive ones. An animal puppet show presented positive social events (e.g., giving a gift) and negative social events (e.g., knocking over another puppet’s block tower). All shows contained two puppets, an actor and a recipient of the event. We asked parents to talk to their 3- and 4-years old children about these events. A total of 26 parent–child dyads from the United States (M = 41.92 months) and Japan (M = 42.77 months) participated. The principal dependent measure was how much parent talk referred to the actor of each type of social event. There were no cultural differences observed in positive events – both the United States and Japanese parents discussed actors more than recipients. However, there were cultural differences observed in negative events – the United States parents talked mostly about the actor but Japanese parents talked equally about the actor and the recipient of the event. The potential influences of these differences on early cognitive and social development are discussed.

scholarly journals Contextual and Cultural Differences in Positive Thinking

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 449-467
Author(s):  
Li-Jun Ji ◽  
Thomas I. Vaughan-Johnston ◽  
Zhiyong Zhang ◽  
Jill A. Jacobson ◽  
Ning Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Theory Of Change ◽  
Positive Thinking ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
East Asians ◽  
Positive Events ◽  
Lay Theory ◽  
Negative Thinking

Past research suggests that East Asians engage in less positive thinking than Westerners, but cultural differences in positive thinking may depend on context. The present research investigates how culture and context may interactively influence positive thinking. In Studies 1 ( N = 287) and 2 ( N = 245), participants read hypothetical positive or negative events, and indicated their endorsement of responses to each event that reflected positive versus negative thinking. Chinese more often than Euro-Canadians endorsed relatively negative thinking in response to positive events and relatively positive thinking in response to negative events. In Study 3 ( N = 573), Chinese (versus Euro-Canadians) generated more negative outcomes for positive events and more positive outcomes for negative events. These effects were mediated by lay theory of change, a belief that events change over time nonlinearly. The findings use diverse measurement approaches to highlight the importance of examining positive thinking in context across cultures.

Affective forecasting accuracy in obsessive compulsive disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 573-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne M. Hezel ◽  
S. Evelyn Stewart ◽  
Bradley C. Riemann ◽  
Richard J. McNally
Keyword(s):  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Affective Forecasting ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Forecasting Accuracy ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Broad Domain

AbstractBackground:Research indicates that people suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) possess several cognitive biases, including a tendency to over-estimate threat and avoid risk. Studies have suggested that people with OCD not only over-estimate the severity of negative events, but also under-estimate their ability to cope with such occurrences. What is less clear is if they also miscalculate the extent to which they will be emotionally impacted by a given experience.Aims:The aim of the current study was twofold. First, we examined if people with OCD are especially poor at predicting their emotional responses to future events (i.e. affective forecasting). Second, we analysed the relationship between affective forecasting accuracy and risk assessment across a broad domain of behaviours.Method:Forty-one OCD, 42 non-anxious, and 40 socially anxious subjects completed an affective forecasting task and a self-report measure of risk-taking.Results:Findings revealed that affective forecasting accuracy did not differ among the groups. In addition, there was little evidence that affective forecasting errors are related to how people assess risk in a variety of situations.Conclusions:The results of our study suggest that affective forecasting is unlikely to contribute to the phenomenology of OCD or social anxiety disorder. However, that people over-estimate the hedonic impact of negative events might have interesting implications for the treatment of OCD and other disorders treated with exposure therapy.

SPECIFICITY OF COGNITIVE BIASES IN SOCIAL PHOBIA AND THEIR ROLE IN RECOVERY

2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Freda McManus ◽  
David M. Clark ◽  
Ann Hackmann
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Social Phobia ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Symptomatic Improvement ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Social Events ◽  
Internal States ◽  
Drug Treatments ◽  
Subjective Estimates

Cognitive theorists propose that each anxiety disorder is associated with a specific tendency to overestimate the danger inherent in particular situations or internal states. Studies comparing anxious patients with non-patient controls have shown that several anxiety disorders are associated with elevated subjective estimates of the likelihood (probability) and cost of negative events. The present study focuses on social phobia and extends previous findings by: a) including a control group of equally anxious patients with another anxiety disorder and b) investigating the effects of successful cognitive and drug treatments on patients' probability and cost estimates. In line with cognitive theory, the results indicate that social phobia is associated with a specific elevation in subjective estimates of both the probability and cost of potentially negative social events. Reductions in overestimation occurred in successful cognitive and drug treatment and were closely related to the degree of symptomatic improvement in both treatments. Contrary to previous findings, there was no evidence that reductions in cost were more important than reductions in probability.

scholarly journals How Downward and Upward Comparisons on Facebook Influence Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissists’ Self-Esteem—A Priming Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Phillip Ozimek ◽  
Hans-Werner Bierhoff ◽  
Elke Rohmann
Keyword(s):  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Social Comparisons ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Vulnerable Narcissism ◽  
And Control

Past research showed that social networking sites represent perfect platforms to satisfy narcissistic needs. The present study aimed to investigate how grandiose (GN) and vulnerable narcissism (VN) as well as social comparisons are associated with Facebook activity, which was measured with a self-report on three activity dimensions: Acting, Impressing, and Watching. In addition, the state self-esteem (SSE) was measured with respect to performance, social behavior, and appearance. One hundred and ten participants completed an online survey containing measures of SSE and Facebook activity and a priming procedure with three experimental conditions embedded in a social media context (upward comparison, downward comparison, and control group). Results indicated, as expected, that high VN was negatively associated with SSE on each subscale and the overall score. In addition, it was found that VN, but not GN, displayed positive associations with frequency of Facebook activities. Finally, it was proposed and confirmed that VN in interaction with the priming of downward comparisons negatively affected SSE. The conclusion drawn is that VN represents a key variable for the prediction of self-esteem as well as for the frequency of Facebook activity.

Responsiveness processes and daily experiences of shared reality among romantic couples

2021 ◽  
pp. 026540752110176
Author(s):  
Yael Bar-Shachar ◽  
Eran Bar-Kalifa
Keyword(s):  
Significant Interaction ◽  
Epistemic Uncertainty ◽  
Romantic Partners ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Romantic Couples ◽  
Positive Events ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Daily Diaries ◽  
Shared Reality ◽  
Critical Process

Shared reality (SR) is the experience of having an inner state believed to be shared by others. Dyadic responsiveness has been suggested to be a critical process in SR construction. The present study tested the extent to which SR varies in the daily lives of romantic partners and whether this variability is related to responsiveness processes. We predicted that disclosure of personal events to one’s partner as well as perceived partner enacted responsiveness would be associated with daily levels of SR. We further predicted that these associations would be more pronounced when one has low epistemic certainty with respect to the disclosed event. To test these hypotheses, daily diaries were collected from 76 cohabiting romantic couples for a period of 4 weeks. Participants reported the occurrence of daily personal positive and negative events, indicated whether they had disclosed these events to their partner, and described how their partner had responded. As predicted, the disclosure of positive and negative events, as well as the perceptions of partners’ constructive responses to these disclosures, were positively associated with daily SR. A significant interaction was found between epistemic uncertainty (i.e., low perceived social consensus) and responsiveness processes in the context of negative (but not positive) events; specifically, when participants experienced low certainty, the disclosure of the event and the perceived partner’s constructive response were more strongly associated with SR.

scholarly journals Good is stronger than bad for eudaimonic well-being

2022 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 455-490
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Martínez-Zelaya ◽  
Marian Bilbao Ramírez ◽  
Darío Páez Rovira
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Representative Sample ◽  
Negative Life Events ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Positive Events ◽  
Post Traumatic Growth ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Basic Beliefs

Perceived changes in basic beliefs and growth related to life events were examined in three studies. A representative sample (N = 885), a sample of students and their families (N = 291) and a sample of students (N = 245) responded with a list of positive and negative life events, a scale of changes in basic beliefs and a post-traumatic growth scale. Positive events were strongly associated with changes in basic beliefs, while only weak associations were found for negative events. In addition, negative changes in basic beliefs were associated with growth only in negative life events and positive changes in basic beliefs were generally associated with growth.

scholarly journals Emotional information-processing correlates of mental health in adolescence: A network analysis approach

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Parsons ◽  
Charlotte Booth ◽  
Annabel Songco ◽  
Elaine Fox
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Cognitive Bias ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Positive Mental Health ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Interpretation Biases ◽  
Model Complex ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Emotional Information Processing

The Combined Cognitive Bias Hypothesis proposes that emotional information processing biases associate with each other and may interact to conjointly influence mental health. Yet, little is known about the interrelationships amongst cognitive biases, particularly in adolescence. We used data from the CogBIAS longitudinal study (Booth et al. 2017), including 451 adolescents who completed measures of interpretation bias, memory bias, and a validated measure of general mental health in a typical population. We used a moderated network modelling approach to examine positive mental health related moderation of the cognitive bias network. Mental health was directly connected to positive and negative memory biases, and positive interpretation biases, but not negative interpretation biases. Further, we observed some mental health related moderation of the network structure. Network connectivity decreased with higher positive mental health scores. Network approaches allow us to model complex relationships amongst cognitive biases and develop novel hypotheses for future research.

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