Effects of standard and explicit cognitive bias modification and computer-administered cognitive-behaviour therapy on cognitive biases and social anxiety.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study examines the effects of a single session of Cognitive Bias Modification to induce positive Interpretative bias (CBM-I) using standard or explicit instructions and an analogue of computer-administered CBT (c-CBT) program on modifying cognitive biases and social anxiety. METHODS: A sample of 76 volunteers with social anxiety attended a research site. At both pre- and post-test, participants completed two computer-administered tests of interpretative and attentional biases and a self-report measure of social anxiety. Participants in the training conditions completed a single session of either standard or explicit CBM-I positive training and a c-CBT program. Participants in the Control (no training) condition completed a CBM-I neutral task matched the active CBM-I intervention in format and duration but did not encourage positive disambiguation of socially ambiguous or threatening scenarios. RESULTS: Participants in both CBM-I programs (either standard or explicit instructions) and the c-CBT condition exhibited more positive interpretations of ambiguous social scenarios at post-test and one-week follow-up as compared to the Control condition. Moreover, the results showed that CBM-I and c-CBT, to some extent, changed negative attention biases in a positive direction. Furthermore, the results showed that both CBM-I training conditions and c-CBT reduced social anxiety symptoms at one-week follow-up. LIMITATIONS: This study used a single session of CBM-I training, however multi-sessions intervention might result in more endurable positive CBM-I changes. CONCLUSIONS: A computerised single session of CBM-I and an analogue of c-CBT program reduced negative interpretative biases and social anxiety.

Haptic signals of texture while eating a food. Multisensory cognition as interacting discriminations from norm.

This study started to characterise the cognitive processes by which physical effects on the senses are transformed into quantitative judgments about conceptualised aspects of a food. Using words provided by assessors, discriminations of a shortbread biscuit's fracturing patterns during eating from each assessor's internal norm were measured for the initial steps of denting, biting and crushing the material. The haptic concept of dentability (lack of crispness) often discriminated cracks in the biscuit that were the lowest in force, but was also sensitive to high-force cracks and frequency of cracks. How hard it was to bite through the sample was most often sensitive to the force of snapping the biscuit and to high-force cracks. Frequency of cracks usually dominated how "crunchy" the biscuits were rated to be. Interactions among the normed discrimination functions accounted for judgments of overall distance from the personal norm for the complex overall texture of the biscuit and revealed each assessor's cognitive strategies in reaching those integrative judgments. Use of the haptic concepts tended to shift mentation from control of the integrative texture ratings directly by sensory stimulation to the relating of those concepts to the sensed patterns, i.e., to describing texture.

Effects of energy density and portion size on development of acquired flavour liking and learned satiety.

The concept of learned satiety (LS) suggests that associations between the sensory quality and post-ingestive effects of foods may lead to acquired control of meal-size. Although a recent study appeared to support LS since participants learned to eat more of a flavoured cereal with lower energy density (ED) after repeated experience, suggesting that they adjusted voluntary intake to ensure adequate energy was consumed, the large serving portion used in training may have lead to over-satiation. To investigate this further, groups of 12 men were assigned to one of four conditions based on the trained serving portion (150 or 300 g) and presence or absence of cues to differentiate high and low ED versions. In the absence of sensory cues, neither mass consumed nor rated pleasantness differed between high and low ED conditions either before or after training, resulting in greater energy intake in the high ED condition. When sensory cues differentiated ED, intake increased significantly post-training in both the high ED condition trained with the small portion and low ED condition trained with the large portion, and flavour pleasantness changed similarly. Moreover hunger increased significantly after the food was tasted in both conditions where intake increased. These data provide further evidence that learning can moderate meal-size dependent on energy content, but suggest that these changes are driven by changes in flavour liking rather than LS.

Acquired liking for sweet-paired odours is related to the disinhibition but not restraint factor from the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire.

Previous research suggests that women scoring high on dietary restraint may be insensitive to flavour-flavour learning, but no study has yet explored this using the olfactory conditioning paradigm. Accordingly, 56 women who were sweet likers were classified as either high or low on both the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire restraint and disinhibition scales. They evaluated two odours before and after disguised pairings of one odour with 10% sucrose and the other with 0.01% quinine. Liking for the quinine-paired odour decreased post-training, with no effects of restraint or disinhibition. In contrast, the increase in liking for the sucrose-paired odour was significantly greater in women classified as scoring high in disinhibition, but was unaffected by restraint. Sweetness of the sucrose paired odour increased, and bitterness of the quinine-paired odour decreased, similarly in all groups. These data suggest that sensitivity of restrained eaters to flavour-based learning may result from their attitude to the food used as reinforcer rather than some basic failure in the learning process, and also suggest that women scoring high on disinhibition may show heightened sensitivity to hedonic cues.

Acquired flavor acceptance and intake facilitated by monosodium glutamate in humans.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is known to enhance liking for the flavor of savory foods, but whether associations between flavors and effects of MSG lead to changes in subsequent liking and intake for the flavor alone is unclear. To test this, 32 volunteers evaluated and consumed a novel savory soup with no added MSG before and after four training sessions where the same soup was consumed either unchanged (Control) or with added MSG. The addition of MSG during training increased both pleasantness and savory character of the soup and resulted in a larger increase in rated pleasantness of the soup in the MSG-trained relative to control condition when the soup was re-evaluated Post-training without MSG. There was also a significant increase in voluntary soup intake Post-training after the soup had been paired with MSG but not in the Control condition, and rated hunger increased more after tasting the soup Post-training in the MSG-trained but not Control condition. These findings demonstrate that co-experience of a savory flavor and MSG can result in increased subsequent liking and intake for the flavor in the absence of MSG, and possible explanations for how MSG reinforces learning are discussed.

Differential hedonic, sensory and behavioral changes associated with flavor-nutrient and flavor-flavor learning.

Flavor-flavor and flavor-nutrient associations can modify liking for a flavor CS, while flavor-flavor associations can also modify the sensory experience of the trained flavor. Less is known about how these associations modify behavioral responses to the trained CS. To test this, 60 participants classified as sweet likers were divided into five training conditions with a novel flavor CS. In the flavor-flavor only condition, participants consumed the target CS in a sweetened, low-energy form, with energy (maltodextrin) but no sweetness added in the flavor-nutrient only condition and both energy and sweetness (sucrose) in the combined flavor-flavor, flavor-nutrient condition. Comparison groups controlled for exposure to the CS, and repeat testing. Training was conducted in a hungry state on four non-consecutive days. To test for acquired changes in evaluation and intake, the flavor CS was processed into a low-energy sorbet, which was evaluated and consumed ad libitum on test days before and after training. Liking for the flavor CS increased only in the sucrose-sweetened condition, but intake increased significantly in both high-energy conditions. In contrast, rated sweetness of the sorbet increased in both sucrose-sweetened and aspartame-sweetened conditions. These findings suggest that liking changes were maximal when flavor-flavor and flavor-nutrient associations co-occurred, but that behavioral changes were specific to flavor-nutrient associations.

Impulsivity is associated with the disinhibition but not restraint factor from the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire.

Recent data implicate impulsivity as a personality trait associated with obesity, binge eating and restrained eating. However, impulsivity is recognised as having multiple dimensions, and it remains unclear which aspects of impulsive behaviour best predict disordered eating. To try and elucidate further the relationship between impulsivity and eating behaviour, 147 women completed a behavioural measure and two self-report measures of impulsivity along with the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ). Overall scores on the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-II), along with scores on the Non-planning and Motor Subscales of the BIS-II, were higher in women scoring high on the TFEQ disinhibition (TFEQ-D) scale. Likewise, women scoring high on the TFEQ-D showed more impulsive choice when discounting hypothetical monetary awards. However, responses to measures of functional relative to dysfunctional impulsivity did not differ depending on TFEQ-D score. No measure of impulsivity was related to scores on the TFEQ restraint scale. These data suggest that a tendency to act impulsively is associated with a tendency to overeat, and may be a factor which predicts the likelihood of the development of binge eating and the breakdown of dieting.

Caffeine deprivation state modulates expression of acquired liking for caffeine-paired flavours.

Previous studies found that caffeine consumers acquired a liking for the flavour of novel caffeinated drinks when these drinks were consumed repeatedly in a caffeine-deprived, but not nondeprived, state. Expression of this acquired liking appeared acutely sensitive to current caffeine deprivation state, but the use of between-subjects designs confounded interpretation of those studies. The present study evaluated these findings further using a within-subject design, with one flavour paired with caffeine (CS + ) and the second with the absence of caffeine (CS-). During four CS + and four CS- training days, 32 moderate caffeine consumers alternatively consumed a novel flavoured drink a CS + paired with caffeine and a CS- flavour paired with placebo. Participants evaluated both drinks before and after training in two motivational states: caffeine deprived and nondeprived. As predicted, pleasantness ratings for the caffeine-paired flavour increased overall. However, this acquired liking was only significant when tested in a caffeine-deprived state. These data are consistent with a conditioned-flavour preference model and imply that expression of acquired liking for a novel caffeinated flavour depends on the need for the effects of caffeine at the time when the drink is evaluated.

Additive effects of flavour-caffeine and flavour-flavour pairings on liking for the smell and flavour of a novel drink.

Previous research has established that caffeine consumption can reinforce changes in liking for caffeine-paired flavours, while pairing a novel flavour with a liked or dislike taste can also result in enduring changes in liking for the flavour. The present study examined how these two forms of flavour-learning interact. 72 habitual caffeine consumers who liked sweet tastes rated the odour and flavour of a novel tea drink before and after four training sessions where the flavour was paired with either 100 mg caffeine or placebo in one of three flavour contexts: added sweetness (aspartame), bitterness (quinine) or control. The liking for both the odour and flavour of the tea increased after pairing with caffeine regardless of flavour context, while pairing with bitterness reduced flavour liking regardless of the presence of caffeine. Pairing with quinine increased the rated bitterness of the tea odour, and reduced the rated sweetness of the tea flavour, post-training, independent of effects of caffeine. These data suggest that flavour-caffeine and flavour-flavour associations have additive effects on drink liking, while confirming that flavour-flavour associations can alter the immediate sensory experience of a flavour alone.

Effects of hunger state on flavour pleasantness conditioning at home: flavour-nutrient learning vs. flavour-flavour learning.

UNLABELLED: This study examined acquired liking of flavour preferences through flavour-flavour and flavour-nutrient learning under hungry or sated conditions in a naturalistic setting. Each participant consumed one of three versions of a test drink at home either before lunch or after lunch: minimally sweetened ( CONTROL: 3% sucrose, 40 kcal), artificially sweetened (3% sucrose 40 kcal plus artificial sweeteners ASPARTAME) and sucrose-sweetened (SUCROSE: 9.9% sugar, 132 kcal). The test drink was an uncarbonated peach-flavoured iced tea served in visually identical drink cans (330 ml). Participants preselected as "sweet likers" evaluated the minimally sweetened flavoured drink (conditioned stimulus, CS) in the same state (hungry or sated) in which they consumed the test drink at home. Overall, liking for the CS flavour increased in participants who consumed the SUCROSE drink, however, this increase in liking was significantly larger when tested and trained hungry than sated, consistent with a flavour-nutrient model. Overall increases in pleasantness for the CS flavour in participants who consumed the SUCROSE drink when sated or the ASPARTAME drink independent of hunger state, suggest that flavour-flavour learning also occurred. These results are discussed in light of current learning models of flavour preference.

Clinical implications of attentional bias in anxiety disorders: An integrative literature review.

Research on information processing biases has been motivated by the hope that it would lead to new and more efficient psychotherapeutic interventions. The literature is abundant with empirical data of attentional biases toward threat stimuli in anxiety disorders. This article aims to review the existing literature on the topic of attentional bias in anxiety disorders and discuss important implications for clinical practice. We adopted an integrative approach to link research data on attentional bias, information processing, and cognitive accounts (automaticity and controllability) with clinical practice in cognitive-behavioral therapy. It is important to develop and apply therapeutic interventions that can effectively reduce negative attentional biases while treating the main problems associated with anxiety disorders. However, it remains to be seen whether cognitive therapy interventions targeting more voluntary, strategic information processing can have a positive impact on automatic, involuntary processing involved in attentional biases. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Hunger alters the expression of acquired hedonic but not sensory qualities of food-paired odors in humans.

To test whether expression of hedonic and sensory odor qualities acquired by association with sweet and bitter tastes depend on hunger state, hungry volunteers experienced odors paired with sucrose, quinine, or water and then were tested under different hunger states manipulated with energy preloads. Acquired liking for sucrose-paired odors was evident following a low-energy or control preload but not a high-energy preload; however, odor sweetness increased in all preload conditions. Acquired dislike and increased bitterness of quinine-paired odors were independent of preloading. These data demonstrate hunger-dependent expression of acquired liking for flavors through flavor-flavor associations in humans and demonstrate independence between acquired hedonic and sensory qualities of odors.

Hedonic and sensory characteristics of odors conditioned by pairing with tastants in humans.

Animals readily acquire positive odor-taste hedonic associations, but evidence for this in humans remains weak and was explored further. Retronasal pairing of odors with sucrose or salty stimuli (Experiment 1) increased the rated sweetness of sucrose-paired odors without altering liking, although changes in odor pleasantness correlated with sucrose liking. Experience of odors with sucrose or quinine by sweet likers (Experiment 2) found increased pleasantness and sweetness for sucrose-paired odors, whereas quinine-paired odors became less liked and more bitter. Odor-sucrose pairings in sweet likers and dislikers (Experiment 3) found increased sweetness in both groups but increased odor liking only in likers. These data suggest that evaluative and sensory learning are dissociable and that evaluative changes are sensitive to individual differences in sweet liking.