title: Memory bias against threat in social phobia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study examined whether social phobia is an anxiety disorder associated with a memory bias toward threat.
  
  
  METHODS
  Social phobic (N = 16) and non-anxious (N = 17) individuals were compared on their recall of evaluative threat and neutral prose passage content.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were presented with two evaluative threat and two neutral prose passages and completed an immediate free recall task after each trial.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Contrary to expectation, individuals with social phobia recalled a smaller percentage of units from the evaluative threat passages than non-anxious individuals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Consistent with the vigilance-avoidance theory, it is suggested that social phobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by the avoidance of elaborate processing of threatening material.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of North Dakota, PO Box 8380, Grand Forks, ND 58202-8380, USA.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wenzel
authors.forename: Craig S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Holt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*