Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34268450›Full record

ArticleComputational psychiatry (Cambridge, Mass.)2021

Affective Bias Through the Lens of Signal Detection Theory.

Shannon M Locke, Oliver J Robinson

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Computational psychiatry (Cambridge, Mass.), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Cognition in Treatment-Resistant Depression: Obstacles and Challenges?Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Computational perspectives on human fear and anxiety.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2023
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Shannon M LockeLaboratoire des Systèmes Perceptifs, Département d'Études Cognitives, École Normale Supérieure, PSL University, CNRS, 75005 Paris, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1787-3345
Oliver J RobinsonInstitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK; Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3100-1132

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/R020817/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Affective bias - a propensity to focus on negative information at the expense of positive information - is a core feature of many mental health problems. However, it can be caused by wide range of possible underlying cognitive mechanisms. Here we illustrate this by focusing on one particular behavioural signature of affective bias - increased tendency of anxious/depressed individuals to predict lower rewards - in the context of the Signal Detection Theory (SDT) modelling framework. Specifically, we show how to apply this framework to measure affective bias and compare it to the behaviour of an optimal observer. We also show how to extend the framework to make predictions about bias when the individual holds incorrect assumptions about the decision context. Building on this theoretical foundation, we propose five experiments to test five hypothetical sources of this affective bias: beliefs about prior probabilities, beliefs about performance, subjective value of reward, learning differences, and need for accuracy differences. We argue that greater precision about the mechanisms driving affective bias may eventually enable us to better understand the mechanisms underlying mood and anxiety disorders.

Indexed as

affective biasanxiety disordersdecision-makingmood disorderssignal detection theory

Identifiers

PMID34268450
PMCPMC7611246

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.