Acutely induced anxiety increases negative interpretations of events in a closed-circuit television monitoring task.
In two experiments we measured the effects of 7.5% CO₂ inhalation on the interpretation of video footage recorded on closed circuit television (CCTV). As predicted, inhalation of 7.5% CO₂ was associated with increases in physiological and subjective correlates of anxiety compared with inhalation of medical air (placebo). Importantly, when in the 7.5% CO₂ condition, participants reported the increased presence of suspicious activity compared with placebo (Experiment 1), a finding that was replicated and extended (Experiment 2) with no concomitant increase in the reporting of the presence of positive activity. These findings support previous work on interpretative bias in anxiety but are novel in terms of how the anxiety was elicited, the nature of the interpretative bias, and the ecological validity of the task.
School of Life, Sport and Social Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK.
Robbie
R
Cooper
Christina J
CJ
Howard
Angela S
AS
Attwood
Rachel
R
Stirland
Viviane
V
Rostant
Lynne
L
Renton
Christine
C
Goodwin
Marcus R
MR
Munafò
D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000523:psychology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013690:Television; D014743:Videotape Recording
D002245:Carbon Dioxide