Practice makes perfect: Training the interpretation of emotional ambiguity

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Practice makes perfect: Training the interpretation of emotional ambiguity Jessica Clifton1 and Gina M. Grimshaw1* 1 Victoria University of Wellington, Psychology, New Zealand The interpretation of emotionally ambiguous words, sentences, or scenarios can be biased through training procedures that are collectively called Cognitive Bias Modification for Interpretation (CBM-I). CBM-I is a programme used for the alleviation of negative biases associated with disorders such as anxiety and depression, however little research has focused on the way in which these biases are altered. In three experiments, we systematically manipulated the nature of training in order to discriminate between possible mechanisms that could produce the interpretation effect. Healthy participants underwent either negative or benign (non-negative) training to induce biased interpretations of emotionally ambiguous sentences. Then, interpretation bias was assessed using a semantic ambiguity priming task which required participants to judge 'online' the relationship between ambiguous words (e.g., TERMINAL) and their negative (e.g., CANCER) or benign (e.g., AIRPORT) interpretations Neither generation of negative words alone nor reading unambiguous negative sentences during training was sufficient to bias the processing of emotionally ambiguous information in the subsequent testing phase. Only when participants were required to actively resolve emotionally ambiguous sentences during training did changes in interpretation emerge at test. Findings suggest that CBM-I achieves its effects by altering a production rule that aids the selection of meaning from emotionally-ambiguous alternatives. In a follow-up ERP study, we are examining the effects of interpretation training on early (N2 and EPN) and later (N400) indicators of semantic processing. Our findings have important implications for our understanding of interpretation processes in healthy individuals, and have clinical relevance for the development of therapeutic approaches that target interpretive processes. Keywords: emotion, interpretation, Cognitive Bias Modification, interpretation bias, Emotional Ambiguity Conference: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Language Citation: Clifton J and Grimshaw GM (2015). Practice makes perfect: Training the interpretation of emotional ambiguity. Conference Abstract: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00127 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 Feb 2015; Published Online: 24 Apr 2015. * Correspondence: Dr. Gina M Grimshaw, Victoria University of Wellington, Psychology, Wellington, New Zealand, gina.grimshaw@vuw.ac.nz Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Jessica Clifton Gina M Grimshaw Google Jessica Clifton Gina M Grimshaw Google Scholar Jessica Clifton Gina M Grimshaw PubMed Jessica Clifton Gina M Grimshaw Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.