Attentional capture in specific phobia

This work examines the mechanistic role of attentional processing of threat-relevant visual stimuli in specific phobia using the theoretical framework of attentional capture. The attentional capture approach distinguishes between the facilitated orienting of attention to and difficulty disengaging attention from threat, and is associated with experimental paradigms that offer a nuanced examination of attentional processing in anxiety. In addition, most prior work in attentional processing in anxiety has focused on the spatial allocation of attention; the temporal allocation of attention in anxiety has been under-studied, although it also may underlie symptom onset and maintenance. The cue validity and rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigms can measure orienting and disengagement of attention using circumscribed phobia-relevant stimuli.; Experiment 1 examined the spatial allocation of attention in spider phobia using the cue validity paradigm. Consistent with hypotheses and recent work examining the capture of attention in anxiety, there was no evidence for facilitated spatial orienting of attention to phobic stimuli, although spider-phobic participants did exhibit difficulty with spatial disengagement from phobic stimuli. Experiment 3 examined the temporal mechanisms of attentional processing in spider phobia using the RSVP paradigm modified to address the limitations of Experiment 2. Consistent with hypotheses, the preliminary results suggest that phobic participants, relative to controls, experience facilitated temporal orienting of attention to phobic stimuli, in addition to more difficulty with temporal disengagement from threat-relevant stimuli. Both studies also eliminate negative valence of the stimuli as an explanation for the results. The results suggest that specific phobia is characterized by enhanced perception of and difficulty disengaging from threat-stimuli within the immediate visual field, whereas preferential spatial orienting of attention may require more top-down processing.; The current work provides evidence that these basic attentional paradigms can be translated for the examination of the role of potentially problematic mechanisms of attentional processing in clinical anxiety. In turn, improved mechanistic models of anxiety disorders may lead to the development of more effective or efficient behavioral interventions.