Self-Approach Tendencies: Relations With Explicit and Implicit Self-Evaluations

Test-retest reliability of a smartphone-based approach-avoidance task: Effects of retest period, stimulus type, and demographics

The approach-avoidance task (AAT) is an implicit task that measures people's behavioral tendencies to approach or avoid stimuli in the environment. In recent years, it has been used successfully to help explain a variety of health problems (e.g., addictions and phobias). Unfortunately, more recent AAT studies have failed to replicate earlier promising findings. One explanation for these replication failures could be that the AAT does not reliably measure approach-avoidance tendencies. Here, we first review existing literature on the reliability of various versions of the AAT. Next, we examine the AAT's reliability in a large and diverse sample (N = 1077; 248 of whom completed all sessions). Using a smartphone-based, mobile AAT, we measured participants' approach-avoidance tendencies eight times over a period of seven months (one measurement per month) in two distinct stimulus sets (happy/sad expressions and disgusting/neutral stimuli). The mobile AAT's split-half reliability was adequate for face stimuli (r = .85), but low for disgust stimuli (r = .72). Its test-retest reliability based on a single measurement was poor for either stimulus set (all ICC1s < .3). Its test-retest reliability based on the average of all eight measurements was moderately good for face stimuli (ICCk = .73), but low for disgust stimuli (ICCk = .5). Results suggest that single-measurement AATs could be influenced by unexplained temporal fluctuations of approach-avoidance tendencies. These fluctuations could be examined in future studies. Until then, this work suggests that future research using the AAT should rely on multiple rather than single measurements.

Alcohol approach bias is associated with both behavioral and neural Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer effects in alcohol-dependent patients

Background

Even after qualified detoxification, alcohol-dependent (AD) patients may relapse to drinking alcohol despite their decision to abstain. Two mechanisms may play important roles. First, the impact of environmental cues on instrumental behavior (i.e., Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer [PIT] effect), which was found to be stronger in prospectively relapsing AD patients than in abstaining patients. Second, an automatic approach bias toward alcohol stimuli was observed in AD patients, and interventions targeting this bias reduced the relapse risk in some studies. Previous findings suggest a potential behavioral and neurobiological overlap between these two mechanisms.

Methods

In this study, we examined the association between alcohol approach bias and both behavioral and neural non-drug-related PIT effects in AD patients after detoxification. A total of 100 AD patients (17 females) performed a PIT task and an alcohol approach/avoidance task. Patients were followed for 6 months.

Results

A stronger alcohol approach bias was associated with both a more pronounced behavioral PIT effect and stronger PIT-related neural activity in the right nucleus accumbens. Moreover, the association between alcohol approach bias and behavioral PIT increased with the severity of alcohol dependence and trait impulsivity and was stronger in patients who relapsed during follow-up in the exploratory analysis.

Conclusions

These findings indicate partial behavioral and neurobiological overlap between alcohol approach bias and the PIT effect assessed with our tasks. The association was stronger in patients with more severe alcohol dependence.