Implicit Memory Bias: Its Role in the Pathogenesis of Panic Disorder

• Main Authors: Hsiao-Yu Yen, 顏孝羽
• Other Authors: 張素凰
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2006
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/70095695278717099140

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 心理學研究所 === 95 === According to current cognitive model of psychopathology, anxiety disorders are characterized by early or automatic bias. However, in panic disorder, several well-known cognitive theories did not mention this automatic bias. Implicit memory is one of the automatic processing. While most empirical researches supported the explicit memory bias, supports for implicit memory bias was ambiguous. The study aimed to elucidate whether there was any implicit memory bias before the onset of panic disorder. The subsequent question is if this bias existed, did it originate from the trait or as a result of panic attacks? Our study applied the white noise paradigm. First, we had the participants read sentences and create a scene involving themselves. Second, we told them to rate the background noise of each sentence. Two experiments were conducted. Experiment I had 33 undergraduate students with 10 in low ASI group, 10 in high ASI group, and 13 in high ASI with panic attack experience group. Experiment I consisted of four factors: 3 (Group: Low ASI, High ASI, High ASI with panic attack experience) × 3 (Sentence type: panic, negative, neutral) × 3 (Noise volume: 54 db, 57db, 60db) × 2 (Presentation: primed, unprimed) with repeated measures in the last three factors. The dependent variable was the noise rating of the sentences. Experiment Ⅱ differed from Experiment I mere in fewer sentences and only two types of sentences（panic and neutral） were presented. Experiment Ⅱ consisted of 48 participants with 16 participants in each group. Results showed that neither experiments revealed implicit memory in any groups. Meanwhile, both experiments showed that all participants had a tendency to attend to the dislike sentences involuntarily. Consistent with McNally’s (2002) viewpoint, high ASI does not necessarily predict memory bias. According to the results, it was hypothesized that the difference between pathological anxiety and non-pathological anxiety lies in the later, strategic stage of information processing in contrast to the early, automatic stage of processing.