Biomedical subjects

K Huygens

Publications and source records attributed to K Huygens.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1998

No evidence for a selective processing of subliminally presented body words in restrained eaters.

OBJECTIVE: In the present study, it was hypothesized that restrained eating subjects will show an attentional bias for body shape and weight words during the automatic stage of information processing and not during the strategic or controlled stage. METHOD: Thirteen high restrained and fifteen low restrained eaters participated in the experiment. Body shape and weight words as well as neutral words were presented both supraliminally and subliminally during a computerized Stroop task. RESULTS: The high restrained eaters did not show distortions in the processing of body shape and weight stimuli; neither an early automatic processing priority nor a pattern of strategic processing selectivity characterizes restrained eaters. DISCUSSION: The absence of cognitive distortions in the processing of body shape and weight information might point to a qualitative difference between normal restrained eaters and subjects with eating disorders of clinical severity.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Preconscious processing bias in specific phobia.

The occurrence of processing bias manifested by the modified Stroop task does not require that the subjects to be aware of the stimuli presented. Earlier studies have shown that even when stimuli are backwardly masked so conscious identification is prevented, patients suffering from Generalised Anxiety Disorders slow down colour-naming masks that are preceded by threatening words. In non-patient samples, processing bias on the modified Stroop task is related to the level of trait anxiety. We tested whether this preconscious processing bias is related to anxiety per se and whether it also occurs in specific phobias. Indeed, in a group of 37 spider phobics, the intensity of phobic complaints was significantly associated with interference measures on both the masked and the unmasked modified Stroop task. Preconscious processing bias was not associated with treatment gain. Interference on the masked and unmasked Stroop task was reduced after treatment. Though the lack of a no treatment control group preludes definite conclusions, our findings suggest that preconscious biases are influenced by behaviour therapy. Results are critically discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Responding to subliminal threat cues is related to trait anxiety and emotional vulnerability: a successful replication of Macleod and Hagan (1992)

Macleod and Hagan (1992) [Behaviour Research and Therapy, 30, 151-161] reported that threat-relevant interference on a masked Stroop task, where neutral and negative words cannot be consciously perceived, is positively correlated with trait anxiety and emotional vulnerability to stressful life events. Their findings were obtained from subjects who were currently stressed. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the Macleod and Hagan findings could be replicated in a sample that was not currently stressed. Using a sample of 32 volunteers, we found a significant correlation between trait anxiety and threat-relevant interference on a masked Stroop. Furthermore, it was found that the single best predictor of vulnerability to life stress was the interference on the masked Stroop. The findings of the present study correspond quite closely to those reported by Macleod and Hagan (1992).

Adult↗