Selective processing of threat cues in posttraumatic stress disorder.
Journal of Abnormal PsychologyPublished 1 January 1990
Richard J. McNally, Susan P. Kaspi, Bradley C. Riemann, Sharon B. Zeitlin
Citations362
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score2.04
SNIP2.16
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TL;DR
Vietnam combat veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder performed a modified Stroop task in which they named the colors of neutral words, obsessive-compulsive disorder words, and PTSD words to provide a quantitative measure of intrusive cognitive activity--the hallmark symptom of PTSD.
Abstract
Vietnam combat veterans with (n = 15) and without (n = 15) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) performed a modified Stroop task in which they named the colors of neutral words (e.g., INPUT), positive words (e.g., LOVE), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) words (e.g., GERMS), and PTSD words (e.g., BODYBAGS). In contrast to normal controls, PTSD patients took significantly longer to color-name PTSD words than to color-name neutral, OCD, and positive words. Because Stroop interference reflects involuntary semantic activation, it may provide a quantitative measure of intrusive cognitive activity--the hallmark symptom of PTSD.
Keywords
Psychology
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