Abstract
The effects of expectancies generated during a pretest on the subsequent vigilance performance of depressed and nondepressed observers were assessed. Among the nondepressed, those who were exposed to a high signal probability during the pretest detected more signals in the main watch than those exposed to a low pretest probability, regardless of the signal probability in the vigil itself (high or low). This expectancy effect was not evident among the depressed. The vigilance decrement in both subject categories was steeper under conditions of low as compared to high test probability. These results indicate that depressed monitors do not demonstrate a deficit in attentional capacity. It is suggested that the nonperseveration of pretest expectancies among the depressed may stem from a lack of motivation to effortfully process information in the same manner as nondepressed observers.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abramson, L. Y., Alloy, L. B., & Rosoff, R. (1981). Depression and the generation of complex hypotheses in the judgment of contingency.Behaviour Research and Therapy, 19 34–45.
Abramson, L. Y., Seligman, M. E. P., & Teasdale, J. D. (1978). Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87 49–74.
Beck, A. T. (1967).Depression: Clinical, experimental, and theoretical aspects. New York: Harper & Row.
Berch, D. B., & Kanter, D. R. (1984). Individual differences. In J. S. Warm (Ed.),Sustained attention in human performance (pp. 143–178). London: Wiley.
Broadbent, D. E. (1971).Decision and stress. New York: Academic Press.
Bryson, S. E., & Pilon, D. J. (1984). Sex differences in depression and the method of administering the Beck Depression Inventory.Journal of Clinical Psychology, 40 529–534.
Bumberry, W., Oliver, J. M., & McClure, J. N. (1978). Validation of the Beck Depression Inventory in a university population using psychiatric estimate as the criterion.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46 150–155.
Byrne, D. G. (1976). Vigilance and arousal in depression.British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 15 267–274.
Byrne, D. G. (1977). Affect and vigilance performance in depressive illness.Journal of Psychiatric Research, 13 185–191.
Colquhoun, W. P., & Baddeley, A. D. (1964). Role of pretest expectancy in vigilance decrement.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 68 156–160.
Colquhoun, W. P., & Baddeley, A. D. (1967). Influence of signal probability during pretraining on vigilance decrement.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73 153–155.
Coyne, J. C., & Gotlib, I. H. (1983). The role of cognition in depression: A critical appraisal.Psychological Bulletin, 94 472–505.
Eysenck, M. W. (1982).Attention and arousal. Cognition and performance. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Garber, J., & Hollon, S. D., (1980). Universal versus personal helplessness in depression: Belief in uncontrollability or incompetence?Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 89 56–66.
Gibbons, F. X., Smith, T. W., Ingram, R. E., Pearce, K., Brehm, S. S., & Schroeder, D. J. (1985). Self-awareness and self-confrontation: Effects of self-focused attention on members of a clinical population.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48 662–675.
Golin, S., Terrell, F., & Johnson, B. (1977). Depression and the illusion of control.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 86 440–442.
Golin, S., Terrell, F., Weitz, J., & Drost, P. L. (1979). The illusion of control among depressed patients.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88 454–457.
Gotlib, I. H., & McCann, C. D. (1984). Construct accessibility and depression: An examination of cognitive and affective factors.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47 427–439.
Hasher, L., & Zacks, R. (1979). Automatic and effortful processes in memory.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 108 356–388.
Hasher, L., & Zacks, R. (1984). Automatic processing of fundamental information: The case of frequency of occurrence.American Psychologist, 39 1372–1388.
Ingram, R. E. (1984). Toward an information-processing analysis of depression.Cognitive Therapy and Research, 8 443–478.
Ingram, R. E., & Smith, T. W. (1984). Depression and internal versus external focus of attention.Cognitive Therapy and Research, 8 139–152.
Ingram, R. E., Smith, T. W., & Brehm, S. S. (1983). Depression and information-processing: Self-schemata and the encoding of self-referent information.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45 412–420.
Krulewitz, J. E., & Warm, J. S. (1977). The event rate context in vigilance: Relation to signal probability and expectancy.Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 10 429–432.
Layne, C. (1983). Painful truths about depressives' cognitions.Journal of Clinical Psychology, 39 848–853.
Layne, C., Merry, J., Christian, J., & Ginn, P. (1982). Motivational deficit in depression.Cognitive Therapy and Research, 6 259–274.
McFarland, B. P., & Halcomb, C. G. (1970). Expectancy and stimulus generalization in vigilance.Perceptual and Motor Skills, 30 147–151.
Miles, C., Auburn, T. C., & Jones, D. M. (1984). Effects of loud noise and signal probability on visual vigilance.Ergonomics, 27 855–862.
Miller, W. R. (1975). Psychological deficit in depression.Psychological Bulletin, 82 238–260.
Smith, T. W., & Greenberg, J. (1981). Depression and self-focused attention.Motivation and Emotion, 5 323–331.
Warm, J. S. (1984). An introduction to vigilance. In J. S. Warm (Ed.),Sustained attention in human performance (pp. 1–14). London: Wiley.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The authors would like to thank Mark Scerbo and Tom Lanzetta for their technical assistance.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Griffin, J.A., Dember, W.N. & Warm, J.S. Effects of depression on expectancy in sustained attention. Motiv Emot 10, 195–205 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00992315
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00992315