Abstract
We applied a variant of Jacoby's (1991) process dissociation procedure to parse the relative contributions of automatic and controlled processes to word-stem completion performance involving threatening, positive, and neutral material in patients with panic disorder and healthy control participants. Contrary to prediction, processing of threatening (relative to nonthreatening) information in panic disorder was not disproportionately influenced by automatic processing. We found limited evidence, however, that panic patients exhibit a baseline bias for completing stems relevant to threat relative to nonthreat stems, perhaps indicating a proneness to engage in self-generated priming of threat material.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Beck, A. T., & Clark, D. A. (1997). An information processing model of anxiety: Automatic and strategic processes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35, 49–58.
Debner, J. A., & Jacoby, L. L. (1994). Unconscious perception: Attention, awareness, and control. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 20, 304–317.
First, M. M., Spitzer, R. L., Gibbon, M., & Williams, J. B. W. (1995). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders—Inpatient edition (SCID-I/P, Version 2.0). New York: New York State Psychiatric Institute, Biometrics Research Department.
Hertel, P. T. (1998). Relation between rumination and impaired memory in dysphoric moods. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107, 166–172.
Hertel, P. T., & Milan, S. (1994). Depressive deficits in recognition: Dissociation of recollection and familiarity. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 736–742.
Jacoby, L. L. (1991). A process dissociation framework: Separating automatic from intentional uses of memory. Journal of Memory and Language, 30, 513–541.
Jacoby, L. L. (1998). Invariance in automatic influences of memory: Toward a user's guide for the processdissociation procedure. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 24, 3–26.
Lundh, L.-G., Czyzykow, S., & Öst, L.-G. (1997). Explicit and implicit memory bias in panic disorder with agoraphobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35, 1003–1014.
McNally, R. J. (1994). Panic disorder: A critical analysis. New York: Guilford Press.
McNally, R. J. (1995). Automaticity and the anxiety disorders. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33, 747–754.
McNally, R. J. (1996). Cognitive bias in the anxiety disorders. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 43, 211–250.
McNally, R. J. (1999). Anxiety sensitivity and information-processing biases for threat. In S. Taylor (Ed.), Anxiety sensitivity: Theory, research, and treatment of the fear of anxiety (pp. 183–197). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
McNally, R. J., Hornig, C. D., Hoffman, E. C., & Han, E. M. (1999). Anxiety sensitivity and cognitive biases for threat. Behavior Therapy, 30, 51–61.
McNally, R. J., Riemann, B. C., & Kim, E. (1990). Selective processing of threat cues in panic disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 28, 407–412.
Otto, M. W., McNally, R. J., Pollack, M. H., Chen, E., & Rosenbaum, J. F. (1994). Hemispheric laterality and memory bias for threat in anxiety disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 828–831.
Potts, A. P. (1998). Memorial performance in anxiety and depression: An investigation using the process dissociation procedure. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Reiss, S., Peterson, R. A., Gursky, D. M., & McNally, R. J. (1986). Anxiety sensitivity, anxiety frequency and the prediction of fearfulness. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 24, 1–8.
Richardson-Klavehn, A., & Bjork, R. A. (1988). Measures of memory. Annual Review of Psychology, 39, 475–543.
Schmidt, N. B., Lerew, D.R., & Jackson, R. J. (1997). The role of anxiety sensitivity in the pathogenesis of panic: Prospective evaluation of spontaneous panic attacks during acute stress. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 106, 355–364.
Schmidt, N. B., Lerew, D. R., & Jackson, R. J. (in press). Prospective evaluation of anxiety sensitivity in the pathogenesis of panic: Replication and extension. Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
Schneider, W. (1988). Micro Experimental Laboratory: An integrated system for IBM PC compatibles. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, 20, 206–217.
Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L., Lushene, R., Vagg, P. R., & Jacobs, G. A. (1983). Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Williams, J. M. G., Watts, F. N., MacLeod, C., & Mathews, A. (1997). Cognitive psychology and emotional disorders (2nd ed.). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McNally, R.J., Otto, M.W., Hornig, C.D. et al. Cognitive Bias in Panic Disorder: A Process Dissociation Approach to Automaticity. Cognitive Therapy and Research 25, 335–347 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010740617762
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010740617762