National Institute for Health and Care Research

A Single-Session Combined Cognitive Bias Modification Training Targeting Attention and Interpretation Biases in Aggression

AlMoghrabi et al. (2022) investigate whether simultaneously modifying attention and interpretation biases produces greater reductions in aggression than targeting interpretation bias alone.

The study examined a novel cognitive bias modification programme that targeted both attention and interpretation biases associated with aggression. Although participants showed increases in adaptive attention and more prosocial interpretations following training, the combined intervention did not produce stronger effects than interpretation training alone. Furthermore, neither training approach resulted in significant reductions in self-reported or behavioural aggression. Overall, the findings suggest that modifying multiple cognitive biases simultaneously may influence underlying cognitive processes, but a single training session is unlikely to be sufficient to produce meaningful changes in aggressive behaviour.

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