Subliminal processing of emotional information in anxiety and depression

Karin Mogg, Brendan P. Bradley, Rachel Williams, Andrew Mathews
1993 Journal of Abnormal Psychology  
The study investigated selective processing of emotional information in anxiety and depression using a modified Stroop color naming task. Anxious (n = 19), depressed (n = 18), and normal control (n = 18) subjects were required to name the background colors of anxiety-related, depression-related, positive, categorized, and uncategorized neutral words. Half of the words were presented supraliminally, half subliminally. Anxious subjects, compared with depressed and normal subjects, showed
more » ... y slower color naming for both supraliminal and subliminal negative words. The results suggest a preattentive processing bias for negative information in anxiety.
doi:10.1037//0021-843x.102.2.304 pmid:8315143 fatcat:pfubpakzove4pmp3kw6kqwv2d4