Money talks in attention bias modification: Reward in a dot-probe task affects attentional biases

Abstract

Attention bias modification (ABM) aimed at correcting dysfunctional biases in anxiety patients has met with only mild success. Inspired by recent studies showing large effects of financial reward upon attention shifts, we contrasted effects of traditional dot-probe ABM and reward upon attention biases in a between-subject 2 × 2 design. Twenty-seven participants in group cognitive behavioural therapy (GCBT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD) were randomly assigned to undergo six sessions of a dot-probe task consisting of ABM or placebo ABM along with random or high reward following neutral stimuli. There was no influence of ABM on participants' attention bias over and above the influence of GCBT. Reward, however, had a strong influence on attention bias. Neither ABM nor reward reduced SAD symptoms over and above the effects of GCBT. The results add to the growing evidence that benefits of ABM through dot-probe training are unreliable but suggest on the other hand that rewarding attention may strongly influence dysfunctional attention biases.

Keywords:

• Visual attention
• Reward
• Attention bias
• Attention bias modification
• Dot-probe task
• Social anxiety disorder

This research was supported by grants from the Rannsóknarsjóður Háskóóla Íslands (Research fund of the University of Iceland) and from the Rannsóknarmiðstöð Íslands, RANNÍS (Icelandic Research Center). We thank Diljá Guðjónsdóttir and Hafdís Lilja Haraldsdóttir for their assistance.

This research was supported by grants from the Rannsóknarsjóður Háskóóla Íslands (Research fund of the University of Iceland) and from the Rannsóknarmiðstöð Íslands, RANNÍS (Icelandic Research Center). We thank Diljá Guðjónsdóttir and Hafdís Lilja Haraldsdóttir for their assistance.