Noticing spiders on the left: Evidence on attentional bias and spider fear in the inattentional blindness paradigm.

Attentional biases in anxiety disorders have been assessed primarily using three types of experiment: the emotional Stroop task, the probe-detection task, and variations of the visual search task. It is proposed that the inattentional blindness procedure has the ability to overcome limitations of these paradigms in regard to identifying the components of attentional bias. Three experiments examined attentional responding to spider images in individuals with low and moderate to high spider fear. The results demonstrate that spider fear causes a bias in the engage component of visual attention and this is specific to stimuli presented in the left visual field (i.e., to the right hemisphere). The implications of the results are discussed and recommendations for future research are made.

Physical activity and mental health in a student population.

BACKGROUND: A growing body of literature indicates that physical activity can have beneficial effects on mental health. However, previous research has mainly focussed on clinical populations, and little is known about the psychological effects of physical activity in those without clinically defined disorders. AIMS: The present study investigates the association between physical activity and mental health in an undergraduate university population based in the United Kingdom. METHOD: One hundred students completed questionnaires measuring their levels of anxiety and depression using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and their physical activity regime using the Physical Activity Questionnaire (PAQ). RESULTS: Significant differences were observed between the low, medium and high exercise groups on the mental health scales, indicating better mental health for those who engage in more exercise. CONCLUSIONS: Engagement in physical activity can be an important contributory factor in the mental health of undergraduate students.