0000000000644501
AUTHOR
Jutta Joormann
Implicit Affect after Mental Imagery: Introduction of a Novel Measure and Relations to Depressive Symptoms in a Non-Clinical Sample
Mental imagery can critically influence our emotional state. In contrast to commonly used explicit measures, implicit measures are promising for objectively assessing automatic emotional processes beyond deliberate control. In two studies with non-clinical samples, we tested the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) to measure implicit affect induced by mental imagery. In a first study (N = 145), the implicit measure showed that mental imagery elicits significantly stronger negative affect than verbally processed stimuli (F(1, 144) = 3.94, p≤.05, η2p = 03). In Study 2 (N = 71), we refined the implicit measure and found that mental images can induce implicit affective reactions at least as …
The role of mental imagery in depression : negative mental imagery induces strong implicit and explicit affect in depression
Mental imagery, seeing with the mind's eyes, can induce stronger positive as well as negative affect compared to verbal processing. Given this emotion-amplifying effect, it appears likely that mental images play an important role in affective disorders. According to the subcomponents model of depression, depressed mood is maintained by both negative imagery (which amplifies negative mood) and less efficient positive imagery processes. Empirical research on the link between mental imagery and affect in clinical depression, however, is still sparse. This study aimed at testing the role of mental imagery in depression, using a modified version of the affect misattribution procedure (AMP) and t…
Impaired cognitive control over emotional material in euthymic bipolar disorder.
Abstract Background Previous research suggests that bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by deficits in cognitive control (CC). Impaired CC has been found in high-risk samples and is associated with the maintenance of BD symptoms. It remains unclear, however, whether BD is characterized by a general deficit in CC or by a deficit that is specifically related to the processing of emotional material. Methods The sample consisted of 42 remitted bipolar patients and 39 healthy controls (HC). We examined whether BD individuals display impaired CC when confronted with negative as well as positive material using an arithmetic inhibition task that required inhibition of pictorial stimulus material…