Positive Cognitive Bias Research Articles

Adolescent threat-related interpretive bias and its modification: The moderating role of regulatory control

Dual process models describe psychopathology as the consequence of an imbalance between a fast, impulsive system and a regulatory control system and have recently been applied to anxiety disorders. The aim of the current study was to specifically examine the role of a regulatory control system in regulating 1) threat-related interpretive bias and 2) the effectiveness of interpretive bias training in adolescents. In total, 67 adolescents participated and followed either a positive Cognitive Bias Modification of Interpretation (CBM-I) training or a placebo-control condition. Results revealed that interpretive bias and the effectiveness of its modification depended on individual differences in regulatory control. That is, low levels of regulatory control in combination with high levels of state anxiety were associated with the strongest threat-related interpretive bias and those individuals benefited the most of the positive interpretation training. The current study provided empirical support for the role of dual processes in adolescent threat-related interpretive bias.

Metacognitive training for patients with schizophrenia (MCT): Feasibility and preliminary evidence for its efficacy

Background The treatment program “Metacognitive training for patients with schizophrenia” (MCT) addresses cognitive deficits and biases assumed to play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of delusions (e.g. jumping to conclusions, theory of mind deficits, bias against disconfirmatory evidence). The feasibility of this approach and its effects on positive symptoms and cognitive biases were investigated in this pilot study. Methods Thirty inpatients of the Department of Psychiatry of the University Hospital Heidelberg with a schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis were randomly assigned to either MCT or an active control intervention. Both training programs were carried out over a time period of four weeks. Psychopathological, cognitive and metacognitive measures were collected at baseline and after completion of the training. Schizophrenia symptoms were determined blind to group allocation with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Results No adverse reactions were noted in the MCT group and patients expressed a greater subjective training success relative to the control condition ( d = .57). A stronger improvement on all PANSS subscales was found at a descriptive level; positive symptoms attenuated under MCT with a medium effect size of d = .43. In addition, results showed a reduced jumping to conclusions bias for MCT patients ( d = .31). However, none of the effects reached statistical significance. Optimal sample size was calculated for future studies. Conclusion The present study confirms the feasibility of MCT and provides preliminary evidence for its efficacy ameliorating positive symptoms and the jumping to conclusions bias.

Effects of positive interpretive bias modification in highly anxious individuals

Over the past 20 years evidence has accumulated that individuals suffering from anxiety tend to interpret ambiguous information as threatening. Considering the causal role of this interpretive bias in anxiety, it was recently established that modifying interpretive biases influences anxiety. This suggests that anxiety can be clinically treated by directly targeting this interpretive bias. The present study was designed to modify a negative interpretive bias in highly anxious individuals, and subsequently assess the hypothesized beneficial effects on clinical measures. High trait-anxious participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: a positive interpretational Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM-I) or a control condition ( n = 2 × 17). The program was offered online for eight consecutive days. Upon completing the program, participants who had followed positive CBM-I were less state and trait-anxious compared to the control group. Additionally, positively trained participants scored lower on a measure of general psychopathology (SCL-90). No effects were observed on social anxiety and stress vulnerability. The mixed pattern of findings renders them rather inconclusive, leaving interpretations of the potential therapeutic merits of CBM-I open for future research.

Mood state moderates the role of serotonin in cognitive biases

Reduction of the monoamine serotonin (5-HT) via the dietary manipulation of tryptophan (acute tryptophan depletion; ATD) has been shown to induce negative cognitive biases similar to those found in depression in healthy individuals. However, evidence also indicates that there can be positive effects of ATD on both mood and reinforcement processing. Here, we present two separate studies, with remarkably similar findings, which may help explain these discrepancies. In both experiments, we assessed cognitive biases following experimentally induced mood states under both a balanced amino acid drink (BAL) and ATD. A significant interaction between treatment, mood state and cognitive bias was observed in both experiments. In the first experiment, subjects undergoing positive mood induction demonstrated a positive cognitive bias on BAL, which was abolished by ATD. The same effect was observed in subjects undergoing neutral mood induction in the second experiment. These effects replicate findings in healthy individuals undergoing ATD. Subjects undergoing negative mood induction, by contrast, demonstrated the opposite pattern of results; in both experiments, they showed no bias under BAL but induction of a positive cognitive bias by ATD. These results mimic previous findings in currently depressed patients undergoing ATD. We therefore suggest that mood state moderates the effect of ATD on cognitive biases. This, in turn, has important implications for the understanding of the role of 5-HT in psychiatric disorders.

Does Happiness Pay? An Exploration Based on Panel Data from Russia

This paper explores differences in the determinants of long term happiness levels versus those of short term fluctuations. It also departs from the usual analysis of the effects of income on happiness, and explores the effects of happiness on future income. We find, based on panel data for 6500 respondents in Russia for 1995-2000, that static variables such as gender, stable marital status, and education levels, are more likely to have effects on normal happiness levels, while changes in socioeconomic or marital status (particularly divorce) are more likely to cause fluctuations in happiness levels. We also find both happiness and positive expectations for the future in the initial period are positively correlated with higher levels of income in future periods. People with negative perceptions of their own past progress and/or with higher fear of unemployment, meanwhile, increase their incomes less, on average, over the period. The psychology literature attributes stability in happiness levels over time to positive cognitive bias, such as self esteem, control, and optimism. The same factors may be at play here, and enhance individuals' performance in the labor market.

Normative data on cognitive measures of depression.

The assessment of cognition and cognitive change is important for case conceptualization, monitoring the efficacy of specific interventions, and evaluating treatment outcome in cognitive-behavioral therapy. Unfortunately, a paucity of normative data exists on cognitive measures used for psychotherapy outcome research in depression, and little information is available to guide a practitioner's understanding of the magnitude and clinical significance of a patient's cognitive change. This article presents normative data on 6 self-report instruments that assess negative and positive automatic thoughts, hopelessness, cognitive biases and errors, and dysfunctional attitudes. Normative data were derived from studies published from the date of inception of a given cognitive index to the year 2000. Recommendations for the use of these normative data are provided.

Maintaining Life Satisfaction: The Role of Positive Cognitive Bias

Recent research into population standards of life satisfaction has revealed a remarkable level of uniformity, with the mean values for Western populations clustering at around three-quarters of the measurement scale maximum. While this seems to suggest the presence of a homeostatic mechanism for life satisfaction, the character of such a hypothetical device is uncertain. This paper proposes that well-being homeostasis is controlled by positive cognitive biases pertaining to the self. Most particular in this regard are the positive biases in relation to self-esteem, control and optimism. Past controversies in relation to this proposition are reviewed and resolved in favour of the proposed mechanism. The empirical data to support this hypothesis are discussed in the context of perceived well-being as an adaptive human attribute.

Cognitive bias and emotion in neuropsychological models of depression

Neuropsychological models of depression were tested by examining encoding and recognition biases elicited by emotional stimuli manifested in regional brain wave activity. Participants were pre-exposed to emotional stimuli. These stimuli were presented again embedded in new stimuli, and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants judged whether they had viewed each stimulus previously. Controls showed an enhanced P300 during encoding and reduced P300 during recognition of positive stimuli, indicating a response bias for positive information. In contrast, participants diagnosed with major depression showed no valence difference during encoding of new stimuli or recognition of old stimuli. These results suggest positive cognitive biases in controls and a lack of such a biases in depressed individuals. Additionally, regression analyses demonstrated that a substantial proportion of P300 variance was related to clinical scale

Cognitive‐versus‐affective positivity asymmetries in thought systems

AbstractPositive‐negative asymmetry in thought can involve both cognitive asymmetry, (thinking about characteristics that a stimulus has versus does not have), which we predict will be large and preponderantly a positivity bias, and affective asymmetry (thinking about desirable versus undesirable characteristics that the stimulus has or has not), predicted to be small and to fluctuate predictably in direction. The first four of the 10 studies reported here investigate asymmetries in thinking ability, measured by giving people directed‐thinking tasks specifically asking them to generate positive versus negative thoughts. We predicted and found no affective asymmetry and a moderate‐sized cognitive positivity bias that declines with practice. The second four of the 10 studies investigate asymmetries in proclivity (or preference beyond ability) that appear when people free associate on a variety of stimuli. As regards proclivity, we predicted and found a large, uniformly positive cognitive bias (that declines somewhat as children mature), but only a slight affective bias that is positive when autistic needs are dominant and negative when realistic needs dominate. A final pair of studies show that the cognitive and affective variables interact as regards how directed positive versus negative thinking about a stimulus affects evaluation of that stimulus.

Visual attention and depression: Cognitive biases in the eye fixations of the dysphoric and the nondepressed

The eye fixations of 20 dysphoric and 20 nondepressed subjects were recorded as the viewed a series of pictures with both happy and sad regions in order to test the hypothesis that dysphoric subjects would tend to fixate sad themes and that nondepressed subjects would tend to fixate happy themes. It was found that both the dysphoric and the nondepressed fixated happy regions significantly more often, longer, and sooner than they fixated sad regions. It was also found that the dysphoric fixated sad regions significantly more often than did the nondepressed. These results were interpreted as reflecting the operation of a visual attentional defense mechanism, which may work less effectively for the depressed, whose function may be to help the individual avert depression by avoiding negative themes and focusing on positive themes. The impact of negative cognitive biases in this study appeared to be to mitigate the strength of an overall more powerful positive cognitive bias.