Monitor on Psychology - November 2011 - (Page 43)

15 I magine a method to treat anxiety and other mental health disorders that was inexpensive, effective after a few short treatments, and didn’t require drugs or trained mental health professionals. “It does sound like science fiction, doesn’t it?” says Colin MacLeod, PhD, a psychologist at the University of Western Australia. Yet that’s the hope of experts studying cognitive bias modification (CBM), a new technique that aims to alter harmful thought patterns. The technique isn’t ready for prime time yet. “This is quite a young field of science,” says Emily Holmes, PhD, a clinical psychologist and cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Oxford. But she and others say the nascent field has great promise. Holmes describes cognitive biases as “habits of thought.” “Some people might have a habit of looking at a teacup and seeing it as half empty, and others see it as half full,” she says. That example is what’s known as an interpretation bias. The glass-half-full type has a positive interpretation bias, while the glass-half-empty type interprets the same information with a negative bias. People with anxiety are more likely to interpret ambiguous information in a negative way — ascribing disapproving or unfriendly intentions to neutral facial expressions, for instance. n ov e M b e r 2 0 1 1 • M o n i to r o n p s yc h o l o g y Behavior change in -minute sessions? Then there are attention biases — things you notice subconsciously and automatically in the world around you. One person coming into a colleague’s office might immediately take in the images on a computer screen, Holmes says, while someone with a spider phobia would be instantly drawn to a web in the corner of the window. Similarly, a person with anxiety is more likely to be tuned in to any potential (or perceived) threats in his or her environment. To date, most studies of cognitive bias have centered on attention biases in anxiety. Numerous studies have demonstrated a link between the two, MacLeod says. The classic method of ferreting out these biases is the use of computerized dot-probe tests. In these tests, probes such as slanting lines or patterns of dots are alternately flashed on the screen near to or far from emotional images (such as disgusted versus neutral faces) or words (with negative or neutral meanings). Subjects are asked to identify the probes as quickly as possible when they appear. Individuals with anxiety are faster to spot probes that pop up in that region of the screen where negative words or images had just been, indicating that’s where the subjects had focused their attention. In other words, anxious individuals are automatically drawn to negative information. The discovery of these negative attention biases hatched 43 Researchers are exploring promising new treatments to modify cognitive biases that underlie common mental health conditions. B Y K IRS TEN W EIR

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - November 2011

Monitor on Psychology - November 2011
Letters
President’s Column
Contents
Guest Column
‘Grand Challenges’ offers blueprint for mental health research
Documentary seeks to reach parents of LGBT kids
Treating veterans will cost at least $5 billion by 2020
Selfless volunteering might lengthen your life
Combat and stress up among U.S. military in Afghanistan
South Africa to host international psychology conference
Study uncovers a reason behind sex differences in mental illness
Navy psychologist gives a voice to combat trauma
In Brief
Psychologist suicide
On Your Behalf
Journey back to Heart Mountain
Psychology is key to pain management, report finds
ACT goes international
Judicial Notebook
Random Sample
Time Capsule
Questionnaire
Science Watch
Behavior change in 15-minute sessions?
Health-care reform 2.0
Perspective on Practice
Giving a heads up on concussion
Practice Profile
Searching for meaning
Inspiring young researchers
Aging, with grace
Public Interest
Thank you!
APA News
Division Spotlight
American Psychological Foundation
The man who gave Head Start a start
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - November 2011

https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/apa/monitor_201206
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/apa/monitor_201205
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/apa/monitor_201204
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/apa/monitor_201203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/apa/monitor_201202
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/apa/monitor_201201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/apa/monitor_201112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/apa/member_benefits
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/apa/monitor_201111
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/apa/monitor_201110
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/apa/monitor_201109_test
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/apa/monitor_201109
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com