Assessment of cognitive bias in anxiety and depression using a colour perception task

Abstract

Three experiments used the “colour perception” task described by Gotlib, McLachlan, and Katz (1988) to examine attentional biases in anxiety and depression. Contrary to expectation, Experiment 1 suggested that neither state nor trait anxiety was associated with an attentional bias favouring threat stimuli. Experiment 2 also failed to show a bias towards threat in clinically anxious individuals compared with normal controls. In an attempt to explain these null findings, Experiment 3 sought to replicate Gotlib et al.^k original evidence of a positive bias in nondepressed individuals. The results indicated that this pattern of bias was more closely associated with state anxiety, than with depression. The discrepant findings are discussed in relation to methodological factors that may reveal the presence or absence of attentional biases, and some suggestions are made for future research.