Chris Ashwin
University of Bath, Psychology, Faculty Member
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Attention Bias Modification (ABM) targets attention bias (AB) towards threat and is a potential therapeutic intervention for anxiety. The current study investigated whether initial AB (towards or away from spider images) influenced the... more
Attention Bias Modification (ABM) targets attention bias (AB) towards threat and is a potential therapeutic intervention for anxiety. The current study investigated whether initial AB (towards or away from spider images) influenced the effectiveness of ABM in spider fear. AB was assessed with an attentional probe task consisting of spider and neutral images presented simultaneously followed by a probe in spider congruent or spider incongruent locations. Response time (RT) differences between spider and neutral trials > 25 ms was considered 'Bias Toward' threat. RT difference < - 25 ms was considered 'Bias Away' from threat, and a difference between -25 ms and +25 ms was considered 'No Bias'. Participants were categorized into Initial Bias groups using pre-ABM AB scores calculated at the end of the study. 66 participants' (Bias Toward n = 27, Bias Away n = 18, No Bias n = 21) were randomly assigned to ABM-active training designed to reduce or elimina...
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ABSTRACT
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... DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2011.626526 Mark Brosnan a * , Chris Ashwin a &amp; Tim Gamble a Available online: 18 Oct 2011. ...
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Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Anger, Autism, Visual perception, and 19 moreNonverbal Communication, Facial expression, Face perception, Brain and Cognition, Emotions, High Functioning Autism, Visual Search, Humans, Face processing, Male, Reaction Time, Crowding, Cognitive processes, Mood Disorders, Psychological Tests, Adult, Asperger Syndrome, Neurosciences, and Severity of Illness Index
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Anger, Fear, Social Neuroscience, and 14 moreFace recognition (Psychology), Facial expression, Emotions, Humans, Autism Spectrum Conditions, Emotion Recognition, Male, Amygdala, Emotional Expression, Adult, Asperger Syndrome, Social, Neurosciences, and Autistic disorder
Research Interests: Multidimensional Scaling, Social Cognition, Anterior Cingulate, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Facial expression, and 24 moreMultivariate Analysis, Biological Sciences, Biological Psychiatry, Brain Mapping, Functional Connectivity, Temporal Lobe, Humans, Face processing, Male, Biological, Three Dimensional Imaging, Functional integration, Oxygen, Adult, Time Factors, Sjogren´s Syndrome, False discovery rate, Medial Temporal Lobe, Asperger Syndrome, Permutation Test, Parahippocampal Gyrus, Brain Function, Case Control Studies, and Functional Laterality
Research Interests: Psychology, Visual perception, Vocabulary, Attention, Face, and 16 moreFacial expression, Color Perception, Psychological Medicine, Affect, Humans, Psychological, Male, Verbal behavior, Psychological Tests, Questionnaires, Adult, Public health systems and services research, Asperger Syndrome, Neurosciences, Attentional Bias, and Severity of Illness Index
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People show a left visual field (LVF) bias for faces, i.e., involving the right hemisphere of the brain. Lesion and neuroimaging studies confirm the importance of the right-hemisphere and suggest separable neural pathways for processing... more
People show a left visual field (LVF) bias for faces, i.e., involving the right hemisphere of the brain. Lesion and neuroimaging studies confirm the importance of the right-hemisphere and suggest separable neural pathways for processing facial identity vs. emotions. We investigated the hemispheric processing of faces in adults with and without Asperger syndrome (AS) using facial emotion and identity chimeric tasks. Controls showed an LVF bias in both tasks, but no perceptual bias in a non-social control task. The AS group showed an LVF bias during both tasks, however the bias was reduced in the identity condition. Further, the AS group showed an LVF bias in the non-social condition. These results show a differential pattern of hemispheric processing of faces in AS.
Research Interests: Education, Autism, Social Cognition, Face, Affect, and 16 moreSocial Control, Right Hemisphere Functions, Brain, Humans, Face processing, Male, Reaction Time, Mental processes, Emotional Expression, Adult, Visual Fields, Asperger Syndrome, Cognition disorders, Functional Laterality, Severity of Illness Index, and Neuropsychological Tests
Eyes are key social features providing a wealth of information about the attention, interest, emotion, and intention of others. Humans are typically very adept at detecting gaze direction, but there is a large decrement in gaze... more
Eyes are key social features providing a wealth of information about the attention, interest, emotion, and intention of others. Humans are typically very adept at detecting gaze direction, but there is a large decrement in gaze discrimination ability when eye images change from positive to negative polarity. This is thought to show an expert system for gaze perception that applies a contrast-specific heuristic to determine where someone else is looking. Autism spectrum conditions (ASC) are characterized by social deficits including difficulties in face-processing and in the social use of gaze. People with ASC are thought to have less expertise for gaze processing compared to typical controls, though little research has tested this. We investigated gaze direction perception in typical males and females, and males with ASC using facial stimuli with positive or negative polarity of the eyes. Results showed that the ASC group was worse at judging gaze direction with positive stimuli, and showed less of a decrement in performance when eye stimuli changed from positive to negative polarity. The differences in gaze perception for the ASC group were most evident when information from the eyes was more difficult and ambiguous. Typical females performed better at gaze direction detection with positive polarity than typical males, who in turn performed better than males with ASC. This latter finding is consistent with the extreme male brain theory of autism, and with the idea that people with ASC have less gaze expertise.