ISSN 0439-755X
CN 11-1911/B
主办:中国心理学会
   中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

心理学报 ›› 2025, Vol. 57 ›› Issue (10): 1729-1744.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2025.1729 cstr: 32110.14.2025.1729

• 研究报告 • 上一篇    下一篇

工作记忆负荷对社交焦虑个体注意偏向的调节作用: 来自稳态视觉诱发电位的证据

杨鑫超1, 陈燕铃2, 郑俊猛1, 张荣祥1, 牟晓1, 徐强1()   

  1. 1宁波大学心理学系暨研究所, 浙江 宁波 315211
    2中国人民大学心理学系, 北京 100872
  • 收稿日期:2024-10-24 发布日期:2025-08-15 出版日期:2025-10-25
  • 通讯作者: 徐强, E-mail: xuqiang1117@163.com
  • 作者简介:第一联系人:

    杨鑫超和陈燕铃同为第一作者。

  • 基金资助:
    国家社会科学基金教育学国家一般项目“基于情绪信息加工的青少年抑郁倾向多模态预测模型与干预研究”(BBA240044)

Working memory load modulates the attentional bias of individuals with social anxiety: Evidence from steady-state visual evoked potentials

YANG Xinchao1, CHEN Yanling2, ZHENG Junmeng1, ZHANG Rongxiang1, MU Xiao1, XU Qiang1()   

  1. 1Department and Institute of Psychology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
    2Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
  • Received:2024-10-24 Online:2025-08-15 Published:2025-10-25

摘要:

本研究以稳态视觉诱发电位(SSVEP)作为表征注意分配的神经指标, 通过设置工作记忆负荷间接操纵注意控制能力, 考察高、低社交焦虑个体的动态注意偏向。以不同频率下SSVEP平均波幅的差异反映个体对刺激的选择性注意, 即使用愤怒面孔诱发的SSVEP平均波幅减去中性面孔作为负性注意偏向指标; 快乐面孔诱发的SSVEP平均波幅减去中性面孔作为正性注意偏向指标。 结果发现,在高工作记忆负荷条件下, 高社交焦虑(HSA)组的负性注意偏向指标显著高于低社交焦虑(LSA)组(刺激呈现后的180~1000 ms), 且社交焦虑症状的严重程度显著正向预测负性注意偏向指标; 而在低工作记忆负荷条件下, 两组之间无显著差异。对于正性注意偏向指标, 在低工作记忆负荷条件下, LSA组显著高于HSA组, 而在高工作记忆负荷条件下两组无显著差异。上述结果表明, 社交焦虑个体的负性注意偏向受工作记忆负荷的调节。当工作记忆负荷增加, 即注意控制能力受到实验性抑制时, HSA组会增强并维持对威胁性社会刺激的注意警觉。此外, HSA组还表现出对积极社会刺激的注意不足。综上所述, 本研究结果支持社交焦虑症状的连续性观点, 证明注意控制能力的受损可能是社交焦虑症状产生和发展的重要风险因素。

关键词: 社交焦虑, 面部表情, 注意控制能力, 注意偏向, 稳态视觉诱发电位

Abstract:

The primary characteristic observed in individuals with social anxiety is the atypical processing of social stimuli, which has been identified as a crucial factor in the development and persistence of symptoms. According to attentional control theory, impaired attentional control results in attentional vigilance and difficulty in disengagement from threatening social stimuli. Although previous studies have provided evidence, the neural mechanisms between social anxiety and attentional bias remain unclear. A robust method for continuously quantifying attentional resources is needed. Therefore, attentional control was manipulated by setting the working memory (WM) load in this study. Steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) were used as a neural index of attention allocation to examine the attentional biases toward threatening social stimuli in individuals with social anxiety.

Through the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, participants (N = 38) were recruited and aligned into high social anxiety (HSA; Mage = 20.68, n = 19) and low social anxiety (LSA; Mage = 21.42, n = 19) groups. SSVEPs were elicited by a frequency-tagging paradigm in which stimuli depicting angry, happy, and neutral expressions were presented at distinct frequencies. The participants were required to focus on the facial stimuli and judge whether the number (or number set) had been presented at the beginning. Attentional bias indices were derived by calculating the difference in mean SSVEP amplitudes between emotional and neutral face conditions. Specifically, negative (positive) attentional bias indices were computed by subtracting the mean SSVEP amplitudes elicited by neutral faces from those elicited by angry (happy) faces.

The behavioral results showed faster response times in the low-WM-load conditions than in the high-WM-load conditions, indicating that the attentional control was effectively manipulated through WM load indirectly in the task. The negative and positive attentional bias indices were separately analyzed through a three-way repeated measures ANOVA, containing the between-subject factor group (HSA, LSA) and the within-subjects factors WM load (high, low) and time window (180~500 ms, 500~1000 ms, 1000~2000 ms). The results of negative attentional bias showed that in the high-WM-load condition, higher negative attentional bias indices were observed in the HSA group than in the LSA group during the 180~500 ms and 500~1000 ms time windows. By contrast, no significant differences were identified between HSA and LSA groups in the low-WM-load condition. Simple linear regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between social anxiety levels and attention bias indices. The results showed that LSAS scores positively predicted negative attention bias indices (180~1000 ms). In the low-WM-load condition, lower positive attentional bias indices were observed in the HSA group compared with those in the LSA group.

The negative attentional bias in social anxiety was modulated by WM load in this study. Individuals with HSA showed enhanced and maintained attentional vigilance toward threatening social stimuli when the attentional control was suppressed experimentally. Meanwhile, individuals with HSA might exhibit insufficient attentional processing toward positive social stimuli. In conclusion, impaired attentional control could be a risk factor for the development of social anxiety. The continuous spectrum perspective would be suitable for further revealing the dynamic attentional bias in individuals with social anxiety.

Key words: social anxiety, facial expression, attentional control, attentional bias, SSVEP

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