Attentional Bias Modification Through Eye-tracker Methodology (ABMET)

Cognitive biases are a hallmark of depression but there is scarce research on whether these biases can be directly modified by using specific cognitive training techniques. The aim of this study will be targeting and modifying specifically relevant attention biases in participants with subclinical depression using eye-tracking methodologies. This innovative approach has been proposed as a promising future line of intervention in Attention Bias Modification procedures (Koster \& Hoorelbeke, 2015). Recent findings suggest that depression is characterized by a double attentional bias (Duque \& Vazquez, 2015), More specifically, depressed individuals have difficulties both to disengage from negative materials (e.g., sad faces) and to engage with positive materials (e.g., happy faces). Thus, training procedures to change attentional biases should target these two separate components.