Variations in the Visual Probe Paradigms for Attention Bias Modification for Substance Use Disorders

Melvyn Zhang, Daniel S. S. Fung and Helen Smith
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Melvyn Zhang: National Addiction Management Service, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore 539747, Singapore
Daniel S. S. Fung: Institute of Mental Health, Department of Developmental Psychiatry, Singapore 539747, Singapore
Helen Smith: Family Medicine & Primary Care, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore 308232, Singapore

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 18, 1-13

Abstract: Advances in experimental psychology have provided evidence for the presence of attentional and approach biases in individuals with substance use disorders. Traditionally, reaction time tasks, such as the Stroop or the Visual Probe Task, are commonly used in the assessment of attention biases. The Visual Probe Task has been criticized for its poor reliability, and other research has highlighted that variations remain in the paradigms adopted. However, a gap remains in the published literature, as there have not been any prior studies that have reviewed stimulus timings for different substance use disorders. Such a review is pertinent, as the nature of the task might affect its effectiveness. The aim of this paper was in comparing the different methods used in the Visual Probe Task, by focusing on tasks that have been used for the most highly prevalent substance disorders—that of opiate use, cannabis use and stimulant use disorders. A total of eight published articles were identified for opioid use disorders, three for cannabis use disorders and four for stimulant use disorders. As evident from the synthesis, there is great variability in the paradigm adopted, with most articles including only information about the nature of the stimulus, the number of trials, the timings for the fixation cross and the timings for the stimulus set. Future research examining attentional biases among individuals with substance use disorders should take into consideration the paradigms that are commonly used and evaluate the optimal stimulus and stimulus-onset asynchrony timings.

Keywords: Visual Probe Task; attention bias; cognitive bias; psychiatry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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