Temporal allocation of attention toward threat in individuals with posttraumatic stress symptoms.
Research suggests that individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) selectively attend to threat-relevant information. However, little is known about how initial detection of threat influences the processing of subsequently encountered stimuli. To address this issue, we used a rapid serial visual presentation paradigm (RSVP; Raymond, J. E., Shapiro, K. L., & Arnell, K. M. (1992). Temporary suppression of visual processing in an RSVP task: An attentional blink? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 18, 849-860) to examine temporal allocation of attention to threat-related and neutral stimuli in individuals with PTSD symptoms (PTS), traumatized individuals without PTSD symptoms (TC), and non-anxious controls (NAC). Participants were asked to identify one or two targets in an RSVP stream. Typically processing of the first target decreases accuracy of identifying the second target as a function of the temporal lag between targets. Results revealed that the PTS group was significantly more accurate in detecting a neutral target when it was presented 300 or 500ms after threat-related stimuli compared to when the target followed neutral stimuli. These results suggest that individuals with PTSD may process trauma-relevant information more rapidly and efficiently than benign information.
Amir
Nader
N
SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92120, USA. namir@mail.sdsu.edu
Taylor
Charles T
CT
Bomyea
Jessica A
JA
Badour
Christal L
CL
D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D001143:Arousal; D001288:Attention; D054518:Attentional Blink; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D003118:Color Perception; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011930:Reaction Time; D012660:Semantics; D012691:Serial Learning; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
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