Abstract
Cognitive theories assume a uniform processing bias across different samples, but the empirical support for this claim is rather weak and inconsistent. Therefore, coherence between biases across different cognitive domains in a sample of 133 non-depressed (Study 1) and a sample of 266 formerly depressed individuals (Study 2) was examined. In both studies, individuals were selected after a successful sad mood induction procedure. A Dot Probe task, an Emotional Stroop task and a self-referential Incidental Learning and Free Recall task were administered to all participants. Principle component analyses indicated coherence between attentional and memory bias in non-depressed, while in formerly depressed individuals distinct components for attentional biases and for memory bias were uncovered. The data suggest that in formerly depressed individuals, self-referent processing during encoding may be related to memory bias, whereas in non-depressed individuals memory bias may be related to both attentional bias and self-referent processing.
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We would like to thank the participants for their time and effort and the Behavioural Science Institute for its support.
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Vrijsen, J.N., van Oostrom, I., Isaac, L. et al. Coherence Between Attentional and Memory Biases in Sad and Formerly Depressed Individuals. Cogn Ther Res 38, 334–342 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-013-9590-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-013-9590-8