TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Expectancy influences on attention to threat are only weak and transient: behavioral and physiological evidence
JO  - Biological psychology
A1  - Aue, Tatjana
A1  - Chauvigné, Léa A. S.
A1  - Bristle, Mirko
A1  - Okon-Singer, Hadas
A1  - Guex, Raphaël
SP  - 173
EP  - 186
VL  - 121
IS  - Pt B
N2  - Can prior expectancies shape attention to threat? To answer this question, we manipulated the expectancies of spider phobics and nonfearful controls regarding the appearance of spider and bird targets in a visual search task. We observed robust evidence for expectancy influences on attention to birds, reflected in error rates, reaction times, pupil diameter, and heart rate (HR). We found no solid effect, however, of the same expectancies on attention to spiders; only HR revealed a weak and transient impact of prior expectancies on the orientation of attention to threat. Moreover, these asymmetric effects for spiders versus birds were observed in both phobics and controls. Our results are thus consistent with the notion of a threat detection mechanism that is only partially permeable to current expectancies, thereby increasing chances of survival in situations that are mistakenly perceived as safe.<br><br>Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0301-0511
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2016.07.006
ID  - ref1
ER  -