Training the removal of negative information from working memory: A preliminary investigation of a working memory bias modification task

Abstract

Rumination in depressed adults is associated with a bias toward retaining negative information in working memory. We developed a task designed to modify this cognitive bias by having subjects repeatedly practice removing negative words from working memory, thereby enabling them to retain positive and neutral words. To assess the efficacy of this task, we recruited 60 adults who reported elevated repetitive negative thought (RNT) and randomly assigned them to receive a single administration of either the working memory bias modification (WMBM) task or a control task. Subjects in the WMBM condition exhibited greater reduction in proactive interference for negative information than did those in the control condition. These results suggest that the WMBM task reduces biased retention of negative information in working memory and, thus, may be useful in investigating the possible causal role of this cognitive bias in RNT or depression.

Keywords:

• Cognitive bias modification
• Working memory
• Rumination
• Proactive interference
• Repetitive negative thought

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplementary Table is available via the ‘Supplementary’ tab on the article’s online page (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2015.1014312).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a Sackler Scholarship in Psychobiology awarded to the first author and a grant awarded to the second author by the Harvard College Research Program.