Chapter 7 Modeling individual differences in negative information processing biases

Abstract

The chapter illustrates various ways in which personality factors might help to explain variation in information processing in dysphoric and depressed individuals. A number of proposed roles for personality and individual differences in explaining vulnerability to depression are introduced in the chapter. The chapter describes a framework for evaluating these roles. To illustrate the use of this framework, a computational neural network is employed to simulate the roles of personality variables in mediating observed information processing biases on two simulated information-processing tasks. Each simulated personality variable is related to the goal of integrating depression and personality research through the various steps. Individual differences can play a key role in the understanding of both depressive information-processing biases and information processing in individuals at risk for depression. Simulations of variables representing types of individual differences can help explain variation in behaviors and provide valuable insights for future research.