Müller Ulrich W D, Witteman Cilia L M, Spijker Jan, Alpers Georg W
Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Front Psychol. 2019 Jun 12;10:1272. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01272. eCollection 2019.
The peak-end memory bias has been well documented for the retrospective evaluation of pain. It describes that the retrospective evaluation of pain is largely based on the discomfort experienced at the most intense point (peak) and at the end of the episode. This is notable because it means that longer episodes with a better ending can be remembered as less aversive than shorter ones; this is even if the former had the same peak in painfulness and an overall longer duration of pain. Until now, this bias has not been studied in the domain of anxiety despite the high relevance of variable levels of anxiety in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Therefore, we set out to replicate the original studies but with an induction of variable levels of anxiety. Of 64 women, half watched a clip from a horror movie which ended at the most frightening moment. The other half watched an extended version of this clip with a moderately frightening ending. Afterward, all participants were asked to rate the global anxiety which was elicited by the video. When the film ended at the most frightening moment, participants retrospectively reported more anxiety than participants who watched the extended version. This is the first study to document that the peak-end bias can be found in the domain of anxiety. These findings require replication and extension to a treatment context to evaluate its implications for exposure therapy.
峰终记忆偏差在疼痛的回顾性评估中已有充分记录。它描述了疼痛的回顾性评估很大程度上基于在最强烈点（峰值）和发作结束时所经历的不适。这一点值得注意，因为这意味着结局较好的较长发作可能比短发作被记忆为不那么厌恶；即使前者在疼痛程度上有相同的峰值且总体疼痛持续时间更长。到目前为止，尽管焦虑水平的变化在焦虑症治疗中具有高度相关性，但这种偏差在焦虑领域尚未得到研究。因此，我们着手重复原始研究，但诱导不同水平的焦虑。在64名女性中，一半观看了一部恐怖电影的片段，该片段在最恐怖的时刻结束。另一半观看了这个片段的扩展版本，结尾有一个适度恐怖的结局。之后，所有参与者被要求对视频引发的总体焦虑程度进行评分。当电影在最恐怖的时刻结束时，参与者回顾性报告的焦虑比观看扩展版本的参与者更多。这是第一项证明峰终偏差可在焦虑领域被发现的研究。这些发现需要在治疗背景下进行重复和扩展，以评估其对暴露疗法的影响。
