Mechanisms Of Attentional Bias Research Articles

Driving mechanism of attentional bias toward safety of construction workers: case study in China

PurposeAttentional bias toward safety (ABS) is a positive safety cognitive ability that could encourage individuals to engage in proactive safety behaviors; however, there is a lack of systematic sorting out of the driving mechanism of ABS. This study aims to identify the influencing factors and underlying mechanisms of ABS among construction workers (CWs) in China, thereby enhancing the practice of construction safety management.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory study using the open-ended approach of grounded theory was conducted, including 25-depth interviews with CWs. Based on the interviews’ records, a scale for measuring CWs’ ABS was developed and an empirical study on 554 workers was performed. The ABS scale was validated in conjunction with an ABS modification training experiment published by the authors’ team, and the theoretical model of the driving mechanism of CWs’ ABS was obtained.FindingsThe results showed that the six driving factors of construction workers’ ABS include organizational factors, risk perception, safety awareness, safety investment, job stress and workers’ educational level. This paper also identified the critical approach to improving workers’ ABS as an effective intervention on risk perception. In addition, the ABS scale was found to be effective in measuring the ABS level.Originality/valueThis paper is of importance in reducing the unsafe behaviors of construction workers and preventing and promoting the sustainable development of construction enterprises.

Attentional bias to social media stimuli ismoderated by fear of missing out among problematic social media users.

Previous evidence has indicated that problematic social media use (PSMU) is characterized by an attentional bias to social media icons (such as Facebook icons), but not to social webpages (such as Facebook webpages). They suggest that there may be other factors influencing attentional bias like fear of missing out (FoMO). But it remains unclear how FoMO moderates attentional bias in PSMU. This study aims to investigate whether PSMU show attentional bias for stimuli associated with social media, and how FoMO moderates on attentional bias among PSMU through experimental methods. Based on the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model, this study explored mechanisms of attentional bias to social media icons (such as WeChat) related to PSMU and further examined the role of FoMO in this relationship. Specifically, attentional bias patterns to social media icons of 62 participants (31 PSMU and 31 control group) were explored during a dot-probe paradigm combined with eye-tracking in Experiment 1, and attentional bias patterns to social media icons of another 61 individuals with PSMU with different FoMO levels was explored during a dot-probe paradigm combined with eye-tracking in Experiment 2. Results revealed that individuals with PSMU had an attentional bias toward social media icons, demonstrated by attentional maintenance, and such bias such bias was moderated by FoMO negatively, demonstrated by attentional vigilance and maintenance in PSMU/high FoMO. These results suggest that attentional bias is a common mechanism associated with PSMU, and FoMO is a key factor on the development of PSMU.

Neural mechanisms of attentional bias to emotional faces in patients with chronic insomnia disorder

ObjectiveThis study used event-related potential (ERP) and resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) approaches to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the emotional attention bias in patients with chronic insomnia disorder (CID). MethodsTwenty-five patients with CID and thirty-three demographically matched healthy controls (HCs) completed clinical questionnaires and underwent electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. EEG analysis examined the group differences in terms of reaction times, P3 amplitudes, event-related spectral perturbations, and inter-trial phase synchrony. Subsequently, seed-based rs-FC analysis of the amygdala nuclei (including the central-medial amygdala [CMA] and basolateral amygdala [BLA]) was performed. The relationship between P3 amplitude, rs-FC and clinical symptom severity in patients with CID was further investigated by correlation analysis. ResultsCID patients exhibited shorter reaction times than HCs in both standard and deviant stimuli, with the abnormalities becoming more pronounced as attention allocation increased. Compared to HCs, ERP analysis revealed increased P3 amplitude, theta wave power, and inter-trial synchrony in CID patients. The rs-FC analysis showed increased connectivity of the BLA-occipital pole, CMA-precuneus, and CMA-angular gyrus and decreased connectivity of the CMA-thalamus in CID patients. Notably, correlation analysis of the EEG and fMRI measurements showed a significant positive correlation between the P3 amplitude and the rs-FC of the CMA-PCU. ConclusionThis study confirms an emotional attention bias in CID, specifically in the neural mechanisms of attention processing that vary depending on the allocation of attentional resources. Abnormal connectivity in the emotion-cognition networks may constitute the neural basis of the abnormal scalp activation pattern.

Abnormal attentional bias in individuals with suicidal ideation during an emotional Stroop task: an event-related potential study.

There is increasing evidence that suicidal individuals exhibit an attentional bias toward negative or suicide-related stimuli, but the underlying neural mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the neural mechanism of attentional bias toward emotional stimuli using a modified emotional Stroop task (EST) and to further explore the influencing factor of abnormal attention processing by identifying whether mental disorders or suicidal ideation contributes to attention processing disruptions. Fourteen students with suicidal ideation and mental disorders (SIMDs), sixteen students with suicidal ideation but no mental disorders (SINMDs), and fourteen sex- and age-matched healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. Moreover, 64-channel electroencephalography (EEG) data and behavioral responses were recorded simultaneously during the EST. Participants were instructed to respond to the ink color for various types of words (positive, neutral, negative, and suicide) while ignoring their meanings. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were analyzed to evaluate attention to the stimuli. Spearman correlations between clinical psychological assessment scales and ERP signatures were analyzed to determine the risk factors for suicide. The results showed that the SIMD group exhibited longer early posterior negativity (EPN) latency compared to the SINMD and HC groups, indicating that early attention processing was affected during the EST, and the automatic and rapid processing of emotional information decreased. Furthermore, P300 latency for positive words was positively correlated with current suicidal ideation in the SINMD group, suggesting that delayed responses or additional processing to positive information may lead individuals with suicidal ideation to an incorrect interpretation of external events. Generally, our findings suggest that the neural characteristics of the SIMD group differed from those of the SINMD and HC groups. EPN latency and P300 latency during the EST may be suicide-related neurophysiological indicators. These results provide neurophysiological signatures of suicidal behavior.

Attentional bias in veterans with deployment-related posttraumatic stress disorder before and after internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy – An eye-tracking investigation

Abstract Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often exhibit an attentional bias towards trauma-relevant or generally threatening and negative stimuli. Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) has been demonstrated to be efficacious in the treatment of PTSD. However, a previous study by our own group failed to find a symptom reduction following ICBT in a sample of traumatized veterans. No previous studies have examined the usefulness of ICBT in terms of modifying attentional bias in PTSD. In an eye-tracking experiment, veterans with deployment-related PTSD were presented with combat-related pictures and general threat-related pictures. These target stimuli were simultaneously displayed with neutral pictures. Additionally, participants were presented with pairs of emotional and neutral faces. Participants received ICBT, and attentional bias was examined pre- and post-intervention and at three-month follow-up. No significant changes in attentional bias were observed, either from pre- to post-intervention or at follow-up. The findings suggest that attentional bias reduction is associated with, rather than being separable from, overall PTSD symptom improvement. The present eye-tracking study was the first longitudinal investigation to examine the effect of ICBT on PTSD-related attentional bias in a sample of veterans. More research is needed to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms of attentional bias in PTSD and its modifiability.

Auditory attentional biases in young males with physical stature dissatisfaction

The attentional biases toward body-related information for individuals with weight concerns and eating disorders have been well documented. However, our knowledge of the attentional biases toward body-related information for subjects with physical stature concerns is only at the beginning. And the research on the auditory attentional biases for individuals with physical stature concerns is rare. The identification of attentional biases may provide an impetus for interventions to reduce distress among height dissatisfied individuals. Therefore, the present study investigated the neural mechanisms of attentional bias toward auditory physical stature-related words among height dissatisfied young males by using event-related potential recordings. Forty-four young male participants screened by Negative Physical Self Scale-Stature Concerns subscale (NPS-S) were assigned into an experimental group with high levels of height dissatisfaction (HHD) and a control group with low levels of height dissatisfaction (LHD). Task irrelevant auditory tall-related words, short-related words and neutral words were presented unilaterally to the participants as the cue in a cue-target paradigm. Participants were required to respond to the visual target preceded by the task-irrelevant auditory cue. The results found that significantly larger N2ac was elicited by tall-related words than short-related words and neutral words only for the HHD group, but not for the LHD group. LPCpc amplitudes did not differ significantly by the functions of word types and experimental groups. These results suggest an attentional orienting bias toward auditory tall-related words for young males with high levels of height dissatisfaction.

Investigating the attentional bias and information processing mechanism of mobile phone addicts towards emotional information

Mobile phone addiction is a behavioral addiction that leads to physical and psychological maladaptation. Researchers have focused on the attentional bias of cognitive cues while neglecting the role of emotional information. The main debate concerning emotional information has been on whether its associated attentional bias is caused by different types of emotional information or only by negative emotional information. We investigated the specific information processing mechanism that lies behind mobile phone addicts’ attentional bias towards emotional information.In this study, behavioral experiments were performed using the dot-probe paradigm. The results showed that high-level mobile phone addicts (MPAs) have attentional bias towards negative emotional information. In order to understand the mechanism of attentional bias more precisely, a follow up study was carried out using eye movement techniques. The results of this follow up study found that, compared with the normal use group, high-level MPAs’ eyes tended to fixate first on negative faces, and significantly more on negative faces than on positive faces. When high-level MPAs demonstrated attentional bias towards negative faces, their first fixation duration was significantly longer than those for positive faces. However, there was no overall attention maintenance of negative emotional information. We conclude that mobile phone addicts have attentional bias towards negative emotional information, manifested as an alert-maintenance model, meaning that attention orientation and difficult disengagement function together. The results of this study could be used to guide interventions geared towards attentional bias training for mobile phone addicts, as well as providing theoretical support for treatment and intervention.

Neural evidence for persistent attentional bias to threats in patients with social anxiety disorder.

Does the biased attention toward social threats dwells on or disappears in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD)? We investigated the neural mechanism of attentional bias in terms of attentional capture and holding in SAD. A total of 31 SAD patients and 30 healthy controls performed a continuous performance task detecting the orientation of a red letter ‘T’ while angry or neutral face distractors appeared or disappeared at the center of the screen. Behaviorally, typical attentional capture effects were found in response to abruptly appearing distractors in both groups. The patient group showed significant attentional dwelling effects in response to the angry face distractor only. Patients showed increased neural activity in the amygdala, insula/inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) compared with those of controls for the abruptly appearing angry distractor. Patients also maintained increased activities in brain regions related to attentional reorienting to distractor, namely the TPJ and IFG in line with their behavioral results of attentional holding effects. Our results indicate that patients with SAD showed prolonged attentional bias to task-irrelevant social threats. The underlying mechanism of prolonged attentional bias in SAD was indicated with amygdala hyperactivity and continued activity of the bottom-up attention network including the TPJ and IFG.

Neural Mechanisms of Attentional Bias Following Aversive Conditioning

Neural Mechanisms of Attentional Bias Following Aversive Conditioning

Examination Stress Results in Attentional Bias and Altered Neural Reactivity in Test-Anxious Individuals.

Examination stress occurs so frequently in the lives of students. The neural mechanisms of attentional bias induced by examination stress in test-anxious individuals remain unclear. Accordingly, we investigated the attentional bias toward test-related threatening words in selected high and low test-anxious participants under the stress of final examinations by using an event-related potential (ERP) technique. A classic dot-probe paradigm was adopted with a test-related/test-unrelated threatening word and a neutral word pair as cues. Results showed attention bias and enhanced N200 amplitude toward test-related threat in high test-anxious individuals, whereas avoidance of test-related threat and decreased N200 amplitude were shown in low test-anxious individuals. Additionally, ERP data revealed the relatively enhanced LPP amplitude in low test-anxious participants compared with that in high test-anxious participants. No attentional bias toward test-unrelated threat was found. In conclusion, examination stress resulted in attentional bias and functional perturbations of a brain circuitry that reacted rapidly to test-related threat in high test-anxious individuals.

Two roads diverged: Distinct mechanisms of attentional bias differentially predict negative affect and persistent negative thought.

Attentional biases to threatening stimuli have been implicated in various emotional disorders. Theoretical approaches often carry the implicit assumption that various attentional bias measures tap into the same underlying construct, but attention itself is not a unitary mechanism. Most attentional bias tasks-such as the dot probe (DP)-index spatial attention, neglecting other potential attention mechanisms. We compared the DP with emotion-induced blindness (EIB), which appears to be mechanistically distinct, and examined the degree to which these tasks predicted (a) negative affect, (b) persistent negative thought (i.e., worry, rumination), and (c) each other. The 2 tasks did not predict each other, and they uniquely accounted for negative affect in a regression analysis. The relationship between EIB and negative affect was mediated by persistent negative thought, whereas that between the DP and negative affect was not, suggesting that EIB may be more intimately linked than spatial attention with persistent negative thought. Experiment 2 revealed EIB to have a favorable test-retest reliability. Together, these findings underscore the importance of distinguishing between attentional bias mechanisms when constructing theoretical models of, and interventions that target, particular emotional disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record

The characteristics of attentional bias in high anxiety sensitivity individuals

Objective To investigate the characteristics and mechanisms of attentional bias in anxiety sensitivity individuals. Methods By using Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), 23 participants were included in the high score group and 20 participants were included in the low score group.Then, 2 (between-subject factor: the high and low score group) ×2 (within-subject factor: the positive and negative picture) mixed design experiments were adopted.Emotional faces picture pairs were chosen as stimuli.Picture pairs were presented 100 ms in experiment 1 and 1 250 ms in experiment 2.Dot-probe task was adopted to inspect the attentional bias and the response time and correct rate were recorded. Results Experiment 1 implied the main effect of type of pictures was found in mixed design experiments(F(1, 41)=4.40, P 0.05). And positive score showed the attentional bias to some certain extent.Significant outcome was found by negative score between two groups (F(1, 41)=6.41, P<0.05). It implied that the high score group tended to avoid the negative pictures and the low score group had the tendency of input effect. Conclusion At the initial stage of attention, anxiety sensitivity individuals had the attentional bias to negative emotional faces and avoidance in the late stage of attention.It suggests that the attentional bias of anxiety sensitivity individuals may have an important effect on the development of the mental disorders. Key words: Anxiety sensitivity; Attentional bias; Dot-probe task

The feature and neural mechanism of attentional bias among individuals with insecure attachment

The feature and neural mechanism of attentional bias among individuals with insecure attachment

Attentional bias in snus users: an experimental study.

The use of nicotine in the form of “snus” is substantial and increasing in some geographic areas, in particular among young people. It has previously been suggested that addictions may operate through a mechanism of attentional bias, in which stimuli representative of the dependent substance increase in salience, thus increasing the addictive behavior. However, this hypothesis has not been tested for the case of snus. The current experiment used a modified Stroop task and a dot-probe task to investigate whether 40 snus users show an attentional bias towards snus-relevant stimuli, compared to 40 non-snus users. There were no significant differences between the two groups on reaction times or accuracy on either Stroop or dot-probe task, thus failing to show an attentional bias towards snus-relevant stimuli for snus users. This could imply that other mechanisms may contribute to maintenance of snus use than for other addictions. However, this is the first experimental study investigating attentional bias in snus users, and more research is warranted.

Attentional Bias towards Threat: Facilitated Attentional Orienting or Impaired Attentional Disengagement?

attentional bias towards threat is a common phenomenon in anxious as well as healthy individuals. There are two potential cognitive mechanisms of attentional bias. The facilitated attentional orienting is known as threat stimuli are detected faster than neutral stimuli. The impaired attentional disengagement is defined as harder to disengage attention from threat stimuli compare to neutral stimuli. The amygdalaanterior cingulate cortex network is the potential neural base of facilitated attentional orienting, while the orbitofrontal cortex is the key area of attentional disengagement. The properties of threat stimuli and characteristic of participants are main factors which affect attentional bias. The future studies should focus on the relationship between attentional orienting and attentional disengagement as well as the neural base of attentional bias.

Attentional Bias for Drug Cues in Heroin Dependence

Previous studies have shown that heroin dependence exhibit an attentional bias toward heroin- related cues. In present article, we reviewed evidence regarding theoretical explanation, paradigm and researches in this field. Incentive-sensitization model, cognitive processing model, integration model may explain the attentional bias in heroin dependence. The paradigms include stroop task, probe-detection and so on. It was found that heroin-related stimuli have acquired attention-grabbing properties. Furthermore, those cues are selected for sustained attentive processing. Although several studies now reveal that attentional bias is related to heroin craving, it is still unknown the causal role of attentional bias and drug craving. The characteristic of attentional bias in heroin dependence become very complicated during detoxification treatment. Further research in this area should concentrate on the neural mechanisms of attentional bias, the relationship between attentional bias and executive cognitive functioning, and the clinical effectiveness of attentional bias training in heroin dependence.

Deficient prefrontal attentional control in late-life generalized anxiety disorder: an fMRI investigation

Younger adults with anxiety disorders are known to show an attentional bias toward negative information. Little is known regarding the role of biased attention in anxious older adults, and even less is known about the neural substrates of any such bias. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess the mechanisms of attentional bias in late life by contrasting predictions of a top-down model emphasizing deficient prefrontal cortex (PFC) control and a bottom-up model emphasizing amygdalar hyperreactivity. In all, 16 older generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) patients (mean age=66 years) and 12 non-anxious controls (NACs; mean age=67 years) completed the emotional Stroop task to assess selective attention to negative words. Task-related fMRI data were concurrently acquired. Consistent with hypotheses, GAD participants were slower to identify the color of negative words relative to neutral, whereas NACs showed the opposite bias, responding more quickly to negative words. During negative words (in comparison with neutral), the NAC group showed PFC activations, coupled with deactivation of task-irrelevant emotional processing regions such as the amygdala and hippocampus. By contrast, GAD participants showed PFC decreases during negative words and no differences in amygdalar activity across word types. Across all participants, greater attentional bias toward negative words was correlated with decreased PFC recruitment. A significant positive correlation between attentional bias and amygdala activation was also present, but this relationship was mediated by PFC activity. These results are consistent with reduced prefrontal attentional control in late-life GAD. Strategies to enhance top-down attentional control may be particularly relevant in late-life GAD treatment.