Evidence of preattentive and attentional biases in anxiety is evaluate
d from a cognitive-motivational perspective. According to this analysi
s, vulnerability to anxiety stems mainly from a lower threshold for ap
praising threat, rather than a bias in the direction of attention depl
oyment. Thus, relatively innocuous stimuli are evaluated as having hig
her subjective threat value by high than low trait anxious individuals
, and it is further assumed that everyone orients to stimuli that are
judged to be significantly threatening. This account is contrasted wit
h other recent cognitive models of anxiety, and implications for the e
tiology, maintenance and treatment of anxiety disorders are discussed.
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