Abstract
The eye fixations of 20 dysphoric and 20 nondepressed subjects were recorded as the viewed a series of pictures with both happy and sad regions in order to test the hypothesis that dysphoric subjects would tend to fixate sad themes and that nondepressed subjects would tend to fixate happy themes. It was found that both the dysphoric and the nondepressed fixated happy regions significantly more often, longer, and sooner than they fixated sad regions. It was also found that the dysphoric fixated sad regions significantly more often than did the nondepressed. These results were interpreted as reflecting the operation of a visual attentional defense mechanism, which may work less effectively for the depressed, whose function may be to help the individual avert depression by avoiding negative themes and focusing on positive themes. The impact of negative cognitive biases in this study appeared to be to mitigate the strength of an overall more powerful positive cognitive bias.
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Matthews, G.R., Antes, J.R. Visual attention and depression: Cognitive biases in the eye fixations of the dysphoric and the nondepressed. Cogn Ther Res 16, 359–371 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01183287
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01183287