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Investigating Pain-Related Avoidance Behavior using a Robotic Arm-Reaching Paradigm
Published on: October 3, 2020
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Attentional avoidance of threatening stimuli
Mark K Britton1, Brian A Anderson2
1Texas A&M University, College Station, USA.
Psychological Research
|October 13, 2019
Summary
Aversive conditioning does not automatically capture attention in deliberate search tasks. Instead, individuals actively avoid previously punished stimuli, though some covert attention to threat may persist.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Aversive conditioning typically enhances stimulus priority.
- Task-irrelevant distractors associated with punishment can capture attention in rapid orienting tasks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if aversive conditioning biases attention during deliberate visual search.
- To determine if previously punished stimuli are actively avoided or captured in a foraging task.
Main Methods:
- Participants underwent aversive conditioning using electric shock.
- A foraging task was employed to assess visual search behavior.
- Oculomotor capture and attentional biases were measured.
Main Results:
- Shock-associated stimuli did not cause oculomotor capture during the foraging task.
- Aversively conditioned stimuli were actively avoided during the search.
- Some evidence for covert attentional bias towards threat was observed.
Conclusions:
- The attentional bias from aversive conditioning may not generalize to deliberate search strategies.
- Sustained attentional avoidance of aversively conditioned stimuli is possible.
- Deliberate search can override automatic orienting biases.
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