Expectancy and attention bias to spiders: Dissecting anticipation and allocation processes using <scp>ERPs</scp>

Abado, Elinor; Aue, Tatjana; Pourtois, Gilles; Hadas Okon‐Singer · 2024 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14546

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

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Summary

This registered report investigates the temporal dynamics of the interaction between a priori expectancy and attention bias toward threat, specifically using spider phobia as a model. The study aims to disentangle the mechanisms underlying the prioritization of threat detection from expectancy-driven processes. Previous research indicated that while expectancy influences attention to neutral stimuli, the appearance of threatening stimuli (spiders) often overrides these preparatory effects. To clarify the neurocognitive timeline of this competition, the authors utilized event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine three distinct processing stages: anticipatory preparation, early attentional allocation, and late elaborated processing. The experimental design involved 30 participants who completed a visual search task. Trials began with a verbal cue indicating the probability of encountering a spider (threat) or bird (neutral) target (e.g., "spider 90%"), followed by a visual search array containing one target among distractors. This created congruent and incongruent trial conditions. EEG data were analyzed for three specific components: the Contingent Negative Variation (CNV) to measure anticipatory processes between cue and target; the Early Posterior Negativity (EPN) to assess early selective attention following target onset; and the Late Positive Potential (LPP) to evaluate later emotional processing. The study employed a 2x2 within-subject design comparing cue type (spider vs. bird) and target type (spider vs. bird). Behavioral results confirmed a robust attention bias, with participants detecting spider targets faster than bird targets. Congruency effects emerged for both target types, though reaction times were shortest for spider trials regardless of cue validity. Neural findings revealed that while there was a non-significant trend toward more negative CNV amplitudes for spider cues, indicating some differential neural preparation, the primary effects were observed post-target. As expected, EPN and LPP amplitudes were significantly larger for spider targets compared to bird targets, reflecting enhanced early and late processing of threat. Crucially, exploratory topographical analyses showed distinct activation patterns for spider versus bird cues. Furthermore, a congruency effect was observed only for bird targets during the 400–500 ms post-target window, suggesting that expectancy modulates processing for neutral stimuli but not for threatening ones at this stage. The findings demonstrate that while expectancy for threatening stimuli generates differential neural preparation, the actual appearance of a spider overrides these expectancy effects during early attentional allocation. Expectancy influences processing only in later stages for neutral targets, whereas threat detection remains prioritized and independent of cue validity. These results clarify the temporal sequence of cognitive biases, showing that exogenous threat processing dominates endogenous expectancy mechanisms early in the processing stream. This understanding has implications for developing attention bias modification therapies, suggesting that interventions may need to target different processing stages depending on whether the focus is on expectancy or direct threat detection.

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• hazard perception