Innes, Kathryn (2016) Negative Attentional Bias in Depression: Fast and Slow Effects. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Research has shown that attentional bias toward negative information is related to the onset and maintenance of depression. Cognitive theories propose that negative biases operate at all stages of attentional processing and can be measured using the emotional Stroop task. Within the task effects of negative attentional bias can manifest both during negative-stimulus presentation (fast effect) and on neutral-stimuli that follow negative-stimuli (slow effect). The current research builds on the findings of McKenna and Sharma (2004) by examining fast and slow components of the emotional Stroop effect in individuals with depressive symptomology. Using a pseudorandom-format of the task, depressed (n = 31) and nondepressed (n = 74) participants identified the ink-colour of negative, positive, and neutral words. Statistical analyses were conducted using a 2 x 3 x 5 factorial ANOVA. Contrary to expectations, depression level did not have critical influence in a nonclinical-sample. Results indicated all participants demonstrated a slow effect to negative-stimuli, however no significant fast effect was found. These findings suggest that although a fast attention capture may exist, it is likely dependent on task conditions and participant characteristics, and that the slow component is the dominant effect, at least in a nonclinical sample. Future research is needed to clarify the underlying mechanisms involved in attentional bias in clinical-depression.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Jessica Marrington |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Aug 2025 03:51 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Aug 2025 03:51 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | emotional Stroop ; attentional bias ; depression ; fast effect ; slow effect |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52436 |
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