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The unique cognitive and attentional biases in the anxious reaction to cyberterrorism

By Violet Cheung-Blunden and Jiarun Ju University of San Francisco. The unique cognitive and attentional biases in the anxious reaction to cyberterrorism. Outline. four criteria of terrorism the last criterion two empirical studies. Crenshaw’s (2010) four criteria.

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The unique cognitive and attentional biases in the anxious reaction to cyberterrorism

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  1. By Violet Cheung-Blunden and JiarunJu University of San Francisco The unique cognitive and attentional biases in the anxious reaction to cyberterrorism

  2. Outline • four criteria of terrorism • the last criterion • two empirical studies

  3. Crenshaw’s (2010) four criteria • Terrorism is manifested in acts of social and politically unacceptable violence. • There is a consistent pattern of symbolic or representative selection of victims or targets. • Terrorism is part of a revolutionary strategy – a method used by insurgents to seize political power from an existing government. Cheung-Blunden, V. & Blunden (in press). Cyber-terrorism: Fear, anger and anxiety as agents of change, In T. Walters et al. (Eds.) Radicalization, Terrorism, and Conflict. Cambridge Scholars Press: Cambridge: UK.

  4. A set of actions are used by the movement to create a psychological effect on specific groups in order to change their political behavior and attitudes.

  5. What psychological effect and why? fear • flight, comply anger • retaliate, counter attack anxiety • ? Cheung-Blunden, V., & Blunden, B. (2008a) Paving the road to war with group membership, appraisal antecedents and anger. Aggressive Behavior, 34, 175-189.. Cheung-Blunden, V., & Blunden, B. (2008b). The emotional construal of war: Anger, fear, and other negative emotions. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 14, 123-150.

  6. The behavioral outcomes of anxiety • hypervigilance(Helbig-Lang & Petermann, 2010) • other safety behaviors, e.g. risk avoidance, prevention, checking, threat elimination (Helbig-Lang & Petermann, 2010; Maner, 2006) • cost insensitivity – better safe than sorry (DeKay et al., 2009)

  7. What psychological effect and why? fear • flight, comply, hide anger • retaliate, counter attack anxiety • hypervigilance, surveillance etc. Cheung-Blunden, V. & Blunden (in press). Cyber-terrorism: Fear, anger and anxiety as agents of change, In T. Walters et al. (Eds.) Radicalization, Terrorism, and Conflict. Cambridge Scholars Press: Cambridge: UK.

  8. Symptoms of anxiety • unrealistic worry and the inability to control it (McLaughlin et al., 2007) • increased tension, nervousness and stress • physically and mentally exhausting • abnormal attention focus and poor cognitive processing

  9. Cognitive biases of anxiety Cognitive Interference Theory (CIT) • anxiety impairs information processing because worry introduces task irrelevant thoughts that highjack cognitive resources (Sarason, 1988) • same impairment was found when worry or anxiety were activated (Cheie & Visu-Petra, 2012; Watts & Weems, 2006)

  10. Attention biases of anxiety Attention Control Theory (ACT) • greater activation in the ventrolateral and prefrontal cortex during recall of words (Derakshan, Santos, & Calvo, 2007; Fales et al., 2008) • poorer attention control

  11. faster latencies or vigilance to threats (Cheie & Visu-Petra, 2012) • two stage vigilance-avoidance model was proposed (Mogg et al., 2004)

  12. Hypotheses H1: Anxiety is a unique emotion in its ability to cause cognitive deficits. H2: The deficit is more pronounced for details that appear towards the end of the news story.

  13. Study 1 • A cross sectional study of 155 college students (M = 19.3 years, SD = 1.6 years) • Demographics, multimedia news report of an incident of cyber terrorism, 9 multiple choice questions to gauge levels of understanding , State Anxiety (Spielberger, et al.,1983), State Anger (Forgays et al., 1997), State Fear (written for present study) scales

  14. Results • Results showed that anxiety was a significant predictor (r(147)=-.24, p=.009) for poor information processing, while anger (r(145)=-.14, p=.135) and fear (r(144)=-.13, p=.177) were not.

  15. In terms of time course, anxiety showed significant negative correlations with the number of correct answers to the last three multiple choice questions (r(147)=-.24, p=.009) and the middle three questions (r(147)=-.22, p=.013), but not with the first three questions (r(147)=-.05, p=.580).

  16. Study 2 • An experiment with 392 American adults between 18 and 75 years of age (M = 34.7 years, SD = 12.4 years) • Demographics, mood manipulation procedure (Lerner et al., 2003; Ruscio & Borkovec, 2004) • Multimedia news report, 9 multiple choice questions • First set of manipulation check included State Anxiety (Spielberger, et al.,1983a), State Anger (Forgays et al., 1997), State Fear (written for present study) scales • Second set of manipulation check was single items of a range of emotions

  17. Table 1. Factor loadings of the emotion items on a rotated component matrix Results

  18. Cont’d

  19. Cont’d

  20. Time course was not apparent - participants in the experimental group were less accurate in recalling details from the middle segment of the news story (t(390)=-1.98, p=.049), but the two groups were marginally different when recalling details from the first (t(390)=-1.66, p=.097) and last segments (t(390)=-1.76, p=.079).

  21. Conclusions • Anxiety seems unique in its ability to cause information deficit • A 3-minute stimulus may be enough to elicit the time-course effect

  22. General implications • Given that anxiety obscures threat analysis and prompts inappropriate responses, the emotional reaction must be kept in check. • Sensational news reporting (of threats) fuels anxiety which then prevents the absorption of information. • Fomenting anxiety must be avoided in democratic decision-making where an informed public is vital to policy debates. Blunden, B.& Cheung-Blunden, V. Cyberwar:Hyperbole and Reality.

  23. References • American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., Text Revision). Washington, DC: Author • Britton, J. C., Lissek, S., Grillon, C., Norcross, M. A., & Pine, D. S. (2011). Development of anxiety: The role of threat appraisal and fear learning. Depression and Anxiety, 28(1), 5-17. doi:10.1002/da.20733 • Cheung-Blunden, V. & Blunden, B. (2008). The emotional construct of war: Anger, fear and other negative emotions. Peace and Conflict, 14, 123-149. doi: 10.1080/10781910802017289 • Dekay, M.L., Patino-Echeverri, D., & Fishbeck, P.S.(2009). Better safe than sorry: Precautionary reasoning and implied dominance in risky decisions. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 22, 338-361. doi: 10.1002/bdm.630 • Helbig-Lang, S., & Petermann, F. (2010). Tolerate or eliminate? A systematic review on the effects of safety behavior across anxiety disorders. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 17(3), 218-233. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2850.2010.01213.x • Kvaal, K., Laake, K., & Engedal, K. (2001). Psychometric properties of the state part of the Spielberger State- Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) in geriatric patients. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 16, 980-986. doi: 10.1002/gps.458 • Mennin, D. S., McLaughlin, K. A., & Flanagan, T. J. (2009). Emotion regulation deficits in generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and their co-occurrence. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 23(7), 866-871. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2009.04.006 • Stapinski, L. A., Abbott, M. J., & Rapee, R. M. (2010). Fear and perceived uncontrollability of emotion: Evaluating the unique contribution of emotion appraisal variables to prediction of worry and generalized anxiety disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48(11), 1097-1104. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2010.07.012 • Sylvers, P., Lilienfeld, S. O., & LaPrairie, J. L. (2010). Differences between trait fear and trait anxiety: Implications for psychopathology. Clinical Psychology Review, doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2010.08.004 • Wegman, C. (1987). Emotion and argumentation in expressions of opinion. Cognitive Perspectives on Emotion and Motivation Dordrecht Netherlands. Kluwer Academy Publishers.

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