抑郁倾向个体对言语情绪信息的加工偏向

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2025.1041

摘要/Abstract

摘要：

已有研究发现抑郁倾向个体存在情绪信息加工偏向, 情绪言语加工相较于图像加工有其独特性。本研究设计3个实验探究抑郁倾向个体在不同加工任务下对言语情绪信息的加工偏向。实验1词汇判断任务, 实验2效价判断任务, 实验3自然阅读任务, 操纵了组别变量(抑郁倾向组和对照组)和词汇效价。结果发现, 实验1组别效应不显著, 与效价交互作用不显著。实验2抑郁倾向组对消极词和积极词的判断都比对照组快。实验3在情绪词区域的凝视时间上, 组别与效价交互作用显著, 抑郁倾向组对积极词的凝视时间显著短于对照组。在情绪词后区域, 在首次注视时间上, 组别和效价的交互作用显著, 但只在消极词后区域的首次注视时间上, 抑郁倾向组显著长于对照组。结果提示, 与健康个体比, 抑郁倾向个体对消极言语情绪信息存在加工偏向。句子阅读过程中对积极情绪信息注视更短, 并存在溢出效应。本研究结果支持了抑郁认知理论, 提示抑郁倾向个体负性认知图式可能已经形成; 本研究也为从言语加工角度对抑郁倾向个体进行干预提供了实验证据的支持。

关键词: 抑郁倾向, 言语情绪信息, 加工偏向, 眼动研究

Abstract:

Individuals with depressive tendencies are characterized by certain depressive symptoms or mild depressive conditions that do not meet the clinical diagnostic criteria for depression. Such individuals are more susceptible to developing depression compared to the general population. Previous research has demonstrated that, similarly to those with depression, individuals with depressive tendencies are predisposed to pay more attention to negative information in words or images, often at the expense of positive information. Emotional speech conveys complex information; words can more precisely articulate emotional subtleties, expressing deeper thoughts and feelings, thereby necessitating unique language processing approaches. However, studies focusing on the processing of verbal emotional information in those prone to depression are relatively scarce. This study seeks to determine whether individuals with a depressive disposition exhibit similar cognitive biases towards negative and positive information when processing textual emotional content—specifically, the extent of their biases towards negative information and their neglect of positive information. This research employs behavioral experimentation and eye-tracking technologies, designing three experiments to investigate the bias in processing emotional information in speech among those with depressive tendencies.

Experiment 1 employed a 2 (groups: healthy, depressive tendency) × 3 (vocabulary valence: negative, neutral, positive) mixed experimental design, where valence served as the within-subjects factor. A total of 40 positive words, 40 negative words, and 40 neutral words were selected, along with 120 pseudowords as fillers. Participants, both with depressive tendencies and healthy, were tasked with identifying true words versus pseudowords. The results indicated no significant differences in response time or accuracy between the two groups, suggesting that when emotional information was processed indirectly and the task was straightforward, individuals with depressive tendencies did not exhibit a cognitive bias. Experiment 2 utilized the same experimental design but focused solely on emotional words (excluding pseudowords). Participants were required to assess the valence of the words. Findings revealed that individuals with depressive tendencies responded more quickly to both negative and positive words compared to the healthy group; they also showed quicker responses to positive and negative words over neutral words, whereas the healthy group responded faster to positive words than to neutral words.

Experiment 3 utilized a 2 (groups: healthy, depressive tendency) × 3 (vocabulary valence: negative, neutral, positive) mixed experimental design. Emotional words were embedded within similarly structured sentences, creating 10 positive, 10 negative, and 10 neutral sentences. These sentences were divided into three interest zones: before the target word, the target word, and after the target word. Using an eye tracker, metrics such as the duration of the first fixation, the duration of the first glance, and the total duration of fixations were recorded during the reading process. The results indicated no differences in eye movement indices between the two groups in the area before the target word. However, in the target word area, a significant interaction between group and word valence was observed in the duration of the first glance, with the depressive tendency group exhibiting a significantly shorter fixation time on positive words than the healthy group. In the area following the target word, significant interactions between group and word valence were noted in the duration of the first fixation, with the depressive tendency group showing a significantly longer duration of the first fixation on negative words compared to the healthy group.

Based on the results of these experiments, the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) Compared to healthy individuals, those with depressive tendencies display a processing bias towards negative emotional verbal information, although this bias is relatively mild; (2) Individuals with depressive tendencies pay less attention to positive emotional verbal information; (3) The processing bias of depression-prone individuals to negative information in context is reflected through the spillover effect.

Key words: depression-prone, verbal emotion information, bias of processing, eye-tracking study

中图分类号:

B842

李雨桐, 李璇, 岳泽明, 李亚红, 隋雪. (2025). 抑郁倾向个体对言语情绪信息的加工偏向. 心理学报, 57(6), 1041-1055.

LI Yutong, LI Xuan, YUE Zeming, LI Yahong, SUI Xue. (2025). The processing bias of verbal emotional information in depression prone individuals. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 57(6), 1041-1055.

图/表 24

参考文献 44

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分类	抑郁倾向组	健康对照组	t	p
男/女	10/22	12/27	/	/
年龄	21.72(2.90)	22.28(1.96)	−0.97	0.334
BDI-II得分	22.59(8.30)	3.38(3.60)	13.05	<0.001
SDS得分	58.94(7.21)	37.74(7.64)	10.80	<0.001

分类	抑郁倾向组	健康对照组	t	p
男/女	10/22	12/27	/	/
年龄	21.72(2.90)	22.28(1.96)	−0.97	0.334
BDI-II得分	22.59(8.30)	3.38(3.60)	13.05	<0.001
SDS得分	58.94(7.21)	37.74(7.64)	10.80	<0.001

评分项目	积极词	中性词	消极词	假词
效价	5.71(0.29)	4.05(0.21)	1.90(0.38)	/
唤醒度	5.10(0.58)	2.50(0.62)	5.29(0.47)	/
词频	2.57(0.75)	2.60(0.83)	2.53(0.68)	/
具体性	3.77(1.08)	4.07(1.32)	3.73(1.12)	/
整词笔画	17.63(4.73)	16.85(4.34)	18.10(3.71)	17.07(4.05)
首字笔画	8.70(3.05)	8.48(3.19)	8.97(3.23)	8.57(2.71)
尾字笔画	8.95(3.18)	8.48(2.81)	9.40(2.85)	8.49(2.99)

评分项目	积极词	中性词	消极词	假词
效价	5.71(0.29)	4.05(0.21)	1.90(0.38)	/
唤醒度	5.10(0.58)	2.50(0.62)	5.29(0.47)	/
词频	2.57(0.75)	2.60(0.83)	2.53(0.68)	/
具体性	3.77(1.08)	4.07(1.32)	3.73(1.12)	/
整词笔画	17.63(4.73)	16.85(4.34)	18.10(3.71)	17.07(4.05)
首字笔画	8.70(3.05)	8.48(3.19)	8.97(3.23)	8.57(2.71)
尾字笔画	8.95(3.18)	8.48(2.81)	9.40(2.85)	8.49(2.99)

因变量	抑郁倾向组			健康对照组
因变量	积极词	中性词	消极词	积极词	中性词	消极词
反应时(ms)	562(13.6)	594(13.6)	577(13.6)	570(12.5)	599(12.5)	588(12.5)
正确率(%)	97.5(0.01)	94.7(0.01)	96.5(0.01)	98.1(0.01)	95.9(0.01)	98.0(0.01)