Information processing biases in emotional disorders

Abstract

The thesis focuses on interpretation biases in depression. Three cognitive models are drawn upon to examine how information processing biases differ between emotional states. In depression, individuals show biases in memory for negative information when strategic, elaborate cognitive processing occurs. In anxiety disorders, there appears to be an initial (automatic) attentional bias to threatening information. These differences in processing may contribute to the development and maintenance of emotional disorders. However, the literature examining interpretation biases has been criticised for introducing response bias and experimental demand effects in the methodologies. Whilst it appears that interpretation biases occur in anxious states, this does not appear to occur in depressed states when using more sophisticated methodologies. The paper comments on ways this could be researched further. Clinical implications for and against an interpretation bias occurring in depression are proposed.

The empirical study tested the hypothesis that clinically depressed individuals will interpret ambiguous material negatively when using a design that removes response bias and experimental demand effects. Although the results show a negative interpretation bias on a homophone task, this bias does not appear to occur when using a more sophisticated methodology.

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