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The human brain is susceptible to systematic errors when processing information; a process formally referred to as cognitive bias. Two forms of cognitive bias, attentional and interpretive, have been largely investigated with respects to influencing psychopathology. Attentional bias refers to the selective attendance to certain information types, above and beyond other information within a given environment, while interpretive bias relates to the tendency to interpret ambiguous information as being related to a personal concern of the individual. Evidence suggests that the development and maintenance of certain forms of psychopathology are, in part, driven by attentional and interpretive biases for disorder-relevant information. More specifically, the literature indicates that those at risk of developing an eating disorder (i.e., those experiencing body dissatisfaction, dietary restraint, and negative affect) display attentional and interpretive...
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References and Further Reading
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Matheson, E. (2016). Attentional and Interpretive Bias. In: Wade, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Feeding and Eating Disorders. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-087-2_187-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-087-2_187-1
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