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- Holmes, Emily A., et al.
(författare)
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Positive interpretation training : Effects of mental imagery versus verbal training on positive mood
- 2006
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Ingår i: Behavior Therapy. - : ELSEVIER INC. - 0005-7894 .- 1878-1888. ; 37:3, s. 237-247
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Therapists often assume a special association between mental imagery and emotion, though empirical evidence has been lacking. Using an interpretation training paradigm, we previously found that imagery had a greater impact on anxiety than did verbal processing of the same material (Holmes & Mathews, 2005). Although the finding of a differential impact of imagery versus verbal processing of negative material was replicated, findings did not extend to benign material. Results therefore left open the question of whether there may be a special association between imagery and positive emotion. The current experiment examined positive interpretation training. Numerous scenarios were presented with initial ambiguity as to positive outcome or not, with final information then yielding consistently positive resolutions. Participants were asked to either imagine these positive events or to listen to the same descriptions while thinking about their verbal meaning. Those participants in the imagery condition reported greater increases in positive affect and rated new descriptions as being more positive than did those in the verbal condition. Results suggest that positive training can be enhanced through imagery as opposed to verbal processing. This study also provides the first test of a standardized intervention using an "interpretive bias training" paradigm to improve positive mood.
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| 2. |
- Holmes, Emily A., et al.
(författare)
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The causal effect of mental imagery on emotion assessed using picture-word cues
- 2008
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Ingår i: Emotion. - : AMER PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOC. - 1528-3542 .- 1931-1516. ; 8:3, s. 395-409
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The hypothesis that mental imagery is more likely to elicit emotion than verbal processing of the same material was investigated in two studies. Participants saw a series of pictures, each accompanied by a word, designed to yield a negative or benign meaning when combined. Participants were either free to combine the picture and word as they wished (Experiment 1) or instructed to integrate them using either a descriptive sentence or a mental image (Experiment 2). Emotional response was consistently greater following imagery than after producing a sentence. Experiment 2 also demonstrated the causal effect of imagery on emotion and evaluative learning. Additional participants in Experiment 2 described aloud their images/sentences. Independent ratings of descriptions indicated that, as well as being more emotional, images differed from sentences elicited by identical cues by greater similarity to memories, and greater involvement of sensations and specific events. Results support the hypothesis that imagery evokes stronger affective responses than does verbal processing, perhaps because of sensitivity of emotional brain regions to imagery, the similarity of imagery to perception, and to autobiographical episodes.
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