Abstract
Individuals with social anxiety often report recurrent, distorted, negative images of themselves. However, previous research has relied exclusively on self-report methods that assess the content of these images rather than the underlying processes involved in image generation. Therefore, we used a validated behavioral measure to examine image generation ability in individuals with social anxiety and non-anxious controls (NACs). Participants first studied and became familiar with a set of uppercase block letters set in grids. Then participants saw a lowercase letter followed by an empty grid with a single X mark in one of the cells. Participants visualized the corresponding block letter in the grid and decided whether it would have covered the X if it were physically present. Image generation is revealed by longer response latencies for probes located on “late” relative to “early” segments of the letters. Socially anxious individuals showed slower responding to late versus early probe locations compared to the NACs, suggesting that individuals with social anxiety experience a disadvantage in generating images of neutral stimuli.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beck, J., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Beck depression inventory manual (2nd ed.). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Clark, D. M., Ehlers, A., Hackmann, A., McManus, F., Fennell, M., Grey, N., et al. (2006). Cognitive therapy versus exposure and applied relaxation in social phobia: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 568–578.
Clark, D. M., & Wells, A. (1995). A cognitive model of social phobia. In R. Heimberg, M. Liebowitz, D. A. Hope, & F. R. Schneier (Eds.), Social phobia: Diagnosis, assessment and treatment. New York: Guilford Press.
Fresco, D., Coles, M., Heimberg, R., Liebowitz, M., Hami, S., Stein, M., et al. (2001). The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale: A comparison of the psychometric properties of self-report and clinician-administered formats. Psychological Medicine, 31, 1025–1035.
Hackmann, A., Clark, D. M., & McManus, F. (2000). Recurrent images and early memories in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 601–610.
Hackmann, A., Surawy, C., & Clark, D. M. (1998). Seeing yourself through others’ eyes: A study of spontaneously occurring images in social phobia. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 26, 3–12.
Heimberg, R. G., & Becker, R. E. (2002). Cognitive-behavioral group therapy for social phobia: Basic mechanisms and clinical strategies. New York: Guilford Press.
Hirsch, C. R., Clark, D. M., Mathews, A., & Williams, R. (2003). Self-images play a causal role in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 901–921.
Hirsch, C. R., Mathews, A., Clark, D. M., Williams, R., & Morrison, J. A. (2006). The causal role of negative imagery in social anxiety: A test in confident public speakers. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 37, 159–170.
Hofmann, S. G. (2007). Cognitive factors that maintain social anxiety disorder: A comprehensive model and its treatment implications. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 36, 195–209.
Holmes, E. A., Lang, T. J., & Shah, D. M. (2009). Developing interpretation bias modification as a “cognitive vaccine” for depressed mood: Imagining positive events makes you feel better than thinking about them verbally. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 118, 76–88.
Hyun, J., & Luck, S. J. (2007). Visual working memory as the substrate for mental rotation. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14, 154–159.
Kosslyn, S. M., Alpert, N. M., Thompson, W. L., Maljkovic, V., Weise, S. B., Chabris, C. F., et al. (1993). Visual mental imagery activates topographically organized visual cortex: PET investigations. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 5, 263–287.
Kosslyn, S. M., Cave, C., Provost, D. A., & von Gierke, S. M. (1988). Sequential processes in image generation. Cognitive Psychology, 20, 319–343.
Kosslyn, S. M., Thompson, W. L., & Alpert, N. M. (1997). Neural systems shared by visual imagery and visual perception: A positron emission tomography study. Neuroimage, 6, 320–334.
Liebowitz, M. R. (1987). Social phobia. Modern problems in pharmacopsychiatry, 22, 141–173.
MacLeod, C. (1993). Cognition in clinical psychology: Measures, methods or models? Behaviour Change, 10, 169–195.
Mathews, A., & MacLeod, C. (2005). Cognitive vulnerability to emotional disorders. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1, 197–225.
Mennin, D. S., Fresco, D. M., Heimberg, R. G., Schneier, F. R., Davies, S. O., & Liebowitz, M. R. (2002). Screening for social phobia in the clinical setting: Using the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 16, 661–673.
Miller, G. A., & Chapman, J. P. (2001). Misunderstanding analysis of covariance. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 40–48.
Podgorny, P., & Shepard, R. N. (1978). Functional representations common to visual perception and imagination. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 4, 21–35.
Rapee, R. M., Gaston, J. E., & Abbott, M. J. (2009). Testing the efficacy of theoretically derived improvements in the treatment of social phobia. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77, 317–327.
Rapee, R. M., & Heimberg, R. G. (1997). A cognitive-behavioral model of anxiety in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35, 741–756.
Rytwinski, N. K., Fresco, D. M., Heimberg, R. G., Coles, M. E., Liebowitz, M. R., Cissell, S., et al. (2009). Screening for social anxiety disorder with the self-report version of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. Depression and Anxiety, 26, 34–38.
Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L., Lushene, R., Vagg, P. R., & Jacobs, G. A. (1983). Manual for the state-trait anxiety inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologist Press.
Wild, J., Hackmann, A., & Clark, D. M. (2008). Rescripting early memories linked to negative images in social phobia: A pilot study. Behavior Therapy, 39, 47–56.
Zarrinpar, A., Deldin, P. J., & Kosslyn, S. (2006). Effects of depression on sensory/motor versus central processing in visual mental imagery. Cognition and Emotion, 20, 737–758.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R34 MH073004-01, R34 MH077129-01) awarded to the second author. We would like to thank Jessica Bomyea and Christal Badour for their help in data collection.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Morrison, A.S., Amir, N. & Taylor, C.T. A Behavioral Index of Imagery Ability in Social Anxiety. Cogn Ther Res 35, 326–332 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-009-9274-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-009-9274-6