Psychology

Najmi and Amir (2010) sought to examine how a single session of attention modification program (AMP) toward feared stimuli would affect the behaviors of individuals with contamination-related obsessive-compulsive symptoms.  They hypothesized that attention training will decrease attention bias which will also decrease avoidant behaviors toward threatening stimuli.  In other words, AMP is predicted to decrease the attention bias for threat and modify behavior towards factors causing fear among individuals with contamination-related obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

The article highlights several studies that were conducted to examine attention bias and the effects of attention training among individuals with anxiety disorders.  These studies have provided support for the theory that attention bias toward threat is causally involved in the maintenance of anxiety and avoidance. (Najmi and Amir, 2010, n.p.).  According to Najmi and Amir (2010), experimental studies are more significant in validating the causal relationship between attention bias and anxiety rather than correlational studies.  Experimental studies allow for the comparison of randomly assigned participants in treatment and control groups where attention bias is manipulated experimentally.

Whereas studies have been conducted on effect of attention training on anxiety, none has been done among a group of individuals with OCD symptoms.  Furthermore, the researchers argue that past research studies mentioned in the article did not test directly the effect of AMP on behavioral approach toward feared situations. (Najmi  Amir, 2010, n.p.)  The researchers were able to present logically the foundation that provides theoretical support for their study.  The arguments that they presented identify the gap in the body of literature imparting evidence for its originality as a research endeavor.  Moreover, they were able to justify how their study can significantly contribute to the body of knowledge about OCD.

Method
Fifty-two participants who were undergraduate students from a university participated in the experiment. They were equally divided between the two conditions, attention control condition (ACC) and attention modification program (AMP).  Pre-tests were conducted using the Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI Hodgson  Rachman, 1977), the Spielberger StateTrait Anxiety Inventory (STAI Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg,  Jacobs, 1983) and the Beck Depression InventoryII.  After gathering self-reports and demographic sheets, they were then randomly assigned to the experimental conditions where they performed the probe detection tasks.  The detection task composed of 48 pre-training attention-bias assessment, 488 trials for either ACC or AMP, and another 48 post-training trials.  After completing the tasks, participants were asked to answer STAI-State and MOCI as well as emotionality ratings for the stimuli used in the probe detection tasks. Their final test was taking the BATs.  Data gathered were subjected to various statistical analyses.

This experimental design, unlike correlational designs, is able to determine causal relationships between the variables identified. It is expected to satisfactorily answer the questions that the researchers pose about the cognitive model.  Perhaps the major criticism for experimental design such as this is the propensity to disregard ethical considerations.  On a final note in the methodology, the authors stated that participants were debriefed.  It lacked further explanation about addressing ethical standards considering that the participants, although not clinically diagnosed, are of a vulnerable population.

Results
Pre-test revealed that the baseline scores for individuals assigned in ACC and AMP conditions did not yield significant differences.  Post-test scores however, after completion of the tasks confirmed the researchers hypotheses.  Individuals in the AMP condition successfully reduced attention bias towards contamination-related threat compared to individuals in the ACC group.  Moreover, from the BATs test, participants who were in the AMP group significantly revealed higher scores in approaching feared contaminants than participants from the ACC group.

Discussion
The results were able to satisfy the questions that the researchers posed in the beginning sections of the journal article.  It supported previous findings about the effectiveness of attention modification-training in decreasing anxiety.  The striking feature of this study is its demonstration of cognitive-behavior modification in individuals with obsessive-compulsive symptoms.  The authors were careful in making generalizations considering that the sample does not come from patients diagnosed clinically.  Thus, the application of the results is limited in its situational scope.  For instance, the researchers did highlight how the study resonates with that of Amir et al. (2008) where AMP reduced anxiety in public speaking among college students.

The strength of the study rests on its experimental design and its ability to isolate the variables under observation.  I find the study valid and the results significantly contributing to the body of knowledge on attention bias and anxiety.  However, as mentioned by the researchers, the findings cannot be generalized to the clinical OCD population.  I perceive this as an area that should provide direction for future researchers because patients with OCD should benefit from such research endeavors.  Clark (2004) states that researchers have found evidence of an attentional bias in OCD that is specific to obsessive-compulsive concerns (i.e. disorder specific) (p. 84).  Taking into consideration therefore, the specific threats or fears depending in the type of OCD will produce more meaningful findings.  Perhaps research in the clinical setting can best attend to such areas of concern.