Eye movements reduce vividness and emotionality of “flashforwards”

Earlier studies have shown that eye movements during retrieval of disturbing images about past events reduce their vividness and emotionality, which may be due to both tasks competing for working memory resources. This study examined whether eye movements reduce vividness and emotionality of visual...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behaviour research and therapy 2010-05, Vol.48 (5), p.442-447
Main Authors: Engelhard, Iris M., van den Hout, Marcel A., Janssen, Wilco C., van der Beek, Jorinde
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adolescent
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Affect
Anxiety
Anxiety disorders. Neuroses
Behavior modification
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive process
EMDR
Emotionality
Emotions
Eye Movements
Female
Flashforwards
Forecasting
Future events
Humans
Imagination
Male
Medical sciences
Mental Recall
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
PTSD
Retrieval
Visual images
Vividness
Working memory
Young Adult
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Summary:Earlier studies have shown that eye movements during retrieval of disturbing images about past events reduce their vividness and emotionality, which may be due to both tasks competing for working memory resources. This study examined whether eye movements reduce vividness and emotionality of visual distressing images about feared future events: “flashforwards”. A non-clinical sample was asked to select two images of feared future events, which were self-rated for vividness and emotionality. These images were retrieved while making eye movements or without a concurrent secondary task, and then vividness and emotionality were rated again. Relative to the no-dual task condition, eye movements while thinking of future-oriented images resulted in decreased ratings of image vividness and emotional intensity. Apparently, eye movements reduce vividness and emotionality of visual images about past and future feared events. This is in line with a working memory account of the beneficial effects of eye movements, which predicts that any task that taxes working memory during retrieval of disturbing mental images will be beneficial.
ISSN:0005-7967
1873-622X
DOI:10.1016/j.brat.2010.01.003