Theoretical and clinical characterizations of attention in PTSD acknowledge the possibility for both hypervigilance and avoidance of trauma-relevant stimuli. This study used eye tracking technology to investigate visual orientation and attention to traumatic and neutral stimuli in nineteen veterans of the Iraq War. Veterans saw slides in which half the screen had a negatively valenced image and half had a neutral image. Negatively valenced stimuli were further divided into stimuli that varied in trauma relevance (either Iraq war or civilian motor vehicle accidents). Veterans reporting relatively higher levels of PSTD symptoms had larger pupils to all negatively valenced pictures and spent more time looking at them than did veterans lower in PTSD symptoms. Veterans higher in PTSD symptoms also showed a trend towards looking first at Iraq images. The findings suggest that posttraumatic pathology is associated with vigilance rather than avoidance when visually processing negatively valenced and trauma relevant stimuli. Keywords PTSD; eye tracking; attention; hypervigilance; veteransHypervigilance is an increase in attention to threatening, potentially threatening, or traumarelevant stimuli and is a widely reported symptom in post traumatic stress disorder (APA, 2000). This symptom may have numerous manifestations including constant visual scanning for suspicious behavior in pubic places, an alertness for unusual sounds, noting of entrances and exits in enclosed places, constant checking of locks inside the home, or investigation of circumstances that seem out of the ordinary. Hypervigilance is also critical to theoretical characterizations of the disorder in which attentional biases toward threat is thought to be a central organizing feature in post traumatic thought and behavior (Litz and Keane, 1989;Chemtob, Roitblat, Hamada, Carlson, and Twentyman, 1988;Ehlers and Clark, 2000). Such models posit that increased attentional bias to threat might maintain or even initiate other symptoms in the disorder such as intrusive memories, flashbacks, concentration difficulties, and avoidance behaviors.Understandably, there has been considerable effort dedicated to understanding the nature and extent of attentional biases in PTSD. The majority of this work has been accomplished through Please address correspondence to: Matthew O. Kimble, Psychology Department, Middlebury College, Middlebury VT 05753, Phone: 802 443 5402, Fax: 802 443 2072, mkimble@middlebury.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. (Dagleish, Moradi, Taghavi, Neshat,-Doost, and Yule, 2001;Harvey,...
Trauma and its consequences can have lasting biological and cognitive effects on those who experience them. This study investigated the extent to which trauma, PTSD, and dissociation influenced attention to basic auditory stimuli in a sample of military cadets. After filling out a series of psychometric questionnaires, twenty-seven male military cadets varying in their trauma history participated in the "novelty" oddball task in which participants were asked to count high pitched tones while ignoring other auditory stimuli. EEG was continually recorded in order to assess P300 responses, an event related potential (ERP) associated with attention and memory processes. Trauma history only, and not dissociation or PTSD scores, predicted smaller P300 amplitudes to target tones. To distracting novel sounds, only trauma history and dissociation predicted unique variance in P300 amplitudes. The findings suggest that PTSD may not be central to the attentional disturbances found in traumatized samples, while trauma history and dissociation may play a more important role. Future studies investigating attentional processes post trauma should utilize dissociation scales and a non trauma sample.
The decision to shoot engages executive control processes that can be biased by cultural stereotypes and perceived threat. The neural locus of the decision to shoot is likely to be found in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) where cognition and affect converge. Male military cadets at Norwich University (N=37) performed a weapon identification task in which they made rapid decisions to shoot when images of guns appeared briefly on a computer screen. Reaction times, error rates, and EEG activity were recorded. Cadets reacted more quickly and accurately when guns were primed by images of middle-eastern males wearing traditional clothing. However, cadets also made more false positive errors when tools were primed by these images. Error-related negativity (ERN) was measured for each response. Deeper ERN’s were found in the medial-frontal cortex following false positive responses. Cadets who made fewer errors also produced deeper ERN’s, indicating stronger executive control. Pupil size was used to measure autonomic arousal related to perceived threat. Images of middle-eastern males in traditional clothing produced larger pupil sizes. An image of Osama bin Laden induced the largest pupil size, as would be predicted for the exemplar of Middle East terrorism. Cadets who showed greater increases in pupil size also made more false positive errors. Regression analyses were performed to evaluate predictions based on current models of perceived threat, stereotype activation, and cognitive control. Measures of pupil size (perceived threat) and ERN (cognitive control) explained significant proportions of the variance in false positive errors to middle-eastern males in traditional clothing, while measures of reaction time, signal detection response bias, and stimulus discriminability explained most of the remaining variance.
A general model of attribution is proposed. It is suggested that the attribution process begins with the attention of the perceiver, which is influenced by cognitive, motivational, and stimulus factors. Once attention is directed, a taxonomy of variables determines the attribution, depending on how much information the perceiver has about the actor. For a stranger, where the least information is available, the attribution depends on whether a person schema or normative script is salient, and whether or not the behavior is expected. For the self, where the most information is available, the direction of the attribution depends on set valence (beliefs about the self in this situation) and whether the behavior is positive or negative. Integration of the model with previous research in areas such as the fundamental attribution error, expectancy violation, the selfserving bias, and the actor-observer bias also is discussed.Requests for reprints should be sent to
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.