Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T11:51:21.183Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Anxiety and the Processing of Threat in Children: Further Examination of the Cognitive Inhibition Hypothesis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2012

Mattijn Morren ,
Merel Kindt ,
Marcel van den Hout  and
Hanneke van Kasteren
Mattijn Morren*
Affiliation:
Maastricht University, the Netherlands
Merel Kindt
Affiliation:
Maastricht University, the Netherlands
Marcel van den Hout
Affiliation:
Maastricht University, the Netherlands
Hanneke van Kasteren
Affiliation:
Maastricht University, the Netherlands
*
Address for correspondence: Mattijn Morren, Department of Medical, Clinical, and Experimental Psychology, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, the Netherlands. Email: M.Morren@dep.unimaas.nl
Get access

Abstract

The present study examined the cognitive inhibition hypothesis (Kindt, Bierman, & Brosschot, 1997) which asserts that young children lack the ability to inhibit the processing of threat, but develop this with age. To examine this issue, high spider fearful children (N = 170) and low spider fearful children (N = 215) aged 7—11 years were tested by means of an emotional Stroop task. It was hypothesised that a processing bias for spider-related stimuli would be present in all 8- and 9-year-old children. That is, it was expected that responses to spider words would be slower compared to responses to control words. Furthermore, it was hypothesised that this processing bias would decrease with age in low fearful children, whereas it would persist in high fearful children. No support was found for these hypotheses. Instead of the predicted processing bias, data showed the reverse pattern; that is, children responded faster to spider words compared to control words. It is proposed that the reverse bias results from avoidance. More precisely, children may evade the processing of spider stimuli through fast responding.

Type
Articles
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , 01 September 2003 , pp. 131 - 142
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)