170 CHAPTER 5
that these lobes are not activated to normal levels during a task does not tell us which
particular processes they are failing to accomplish normally. Similarly, researchers
don’t know what it means when an area is activated when a person with a disorder
performs a task but not when participants who don’t have the disorder perform it.
Nevertheless, the outlook is far from hopeless. Researchers do know a consider-
able amount about what specifi c parts of the brain do (and are learning more every
day). Also, they can use other techniques in combination with neuroimaging to learn
which brain areas may play a role in causing or contributing to certain disorders. For
example, if abnormal activation in the parietal lobe indicates that a person with schizo-
phrenia is having to work harder to pay attention, then relatively low doses of tran-
scranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to the parietal lobe should disrupt the person’s
ability to pay attention more than would be the case for normal control participants.
We will have more to say about neuroimaging research in subsequent chapters.Challenges in Researching Psychological Factors
Scientists who study neurological factors examine the diffi culties with the biological
mechanismsthat process information or that give rise to emotion. In contrast,
scientists who study psychological factors examine specifi c mental contents, mental
processes, behaviors, or emotions. As we noted in Chapter 3, information about psy-
chological factors typically is obtained from patients’ self-reports, from reports by
others close to patients, or from direct observations.Biases in Mental Processes That Affect Assessment
Assessing mental contents, emotions, and behaviors via self-report or report by oth-
ers can yield inaccurate information because of biases in what people pay atten-
tion to remember, and report. Sometimes beliefs, expectations, or habits bias how
participants respond, consciously or unconsciously. For instance, people who have
anxiety disorders are more likely to be extremely attentive to stimuli that might be
perceived as a threat (Cloitre et al., 1994; Mathews et al., 1989; Mogg, Millar, &
Bradley, 2000). In contrast, people with depression do not have this particular bias
but tend to be biased in what they recall—they are more likely than people who are
not depressed to recall unpleasant events (Blaney, 1986; Murray, Whitehouse, &
Alloy, 1999; Watkins, 2002; Williams et al., 1997). In fact, researchers have found
that people in general are more likely to recall information consistent with their cur-
rent mood than information that is inconsistent with their current mood (referred
to as mood-congruent memory bias; Teasdale, 1983).
Biases not only infl uence attention and recall, but also can affect reporting. In one
study, college students completed tests of cognitive abilities (including memory) and then
were asked to complete a self-report scale to indicate how depressed they were. Partici-
pants who were more depressed reportedthat their cognitive functioning was impaired,
but their cognitive test results did not support their reports (Wong, Wetterneck, &
Klein, 2000): Their subjective experience was at odds with objective data. Thus, biases
in attention, memory, and reporting can distort the results of research.Research Challenges with Clinical Interviews
Patients’ responses can be affected by whether they are asked questions by an inter-
viewer or receive them in a written questionnaire (see Figure 5.4). Consider a study
in which participants were asked questions about their symptoms of either OCD
or social phobia. When the questions were fi rst asked by a clinician as part of an
interview, participants tended not to report certain avoidance-related symptoms that
they later did report on a questionnaire. In contrast, when participants completed
the questionnaire fi rst, they reported these symptoms both on the questionnaire and
in the subsequent interview (Dell’Osso et al., 2002).
Moreover, when interviewing family members or friends about a patient’s
behavior, clinicians should keep in mind that these people may have their own
biases. They may pay more attention to, and so be more likely to remember, particularPeople with different disorders tend to have
different biases in what they pay attention to,
remember, and report. A man with depression,
for instance, might report that he’s not doing a
very good job at work, but this may not be accu-
rate. Because of his depression, he is more likely
to remember aspects of his performance at work
that did not meet his expectations and to forget
about aspects of his performance that met or
surpassed his expectations.Myrleen Ferguson Cate/Photo Edit