Attentional bias

Attentional bias is the tendency for people's perception to be affected by their recurring thoughts at the time. Attentional biases may explain an individual's failure to consider alternative possibilities, as specific thoughts guide the train of thought in a certain manner. For example, smokers tend to possess a bias for cigarettes and other smoking-related cues around them, due to the positive thoughts they've already attributed between smoking and the cues they were exposed to while smoking. Attentional bias has also been associated with clinically relevant symptoms such as anxiety and depression. Attentional bias is the tendency for people's perception to be affected by their recurring thoughts at the time. Attentional biases may explain an individual's failure to consider alternative possibilities, as specific thoughts guide the train of thought in a certain manner. For example, smokers tend to possess a bias for cigarettes and other smoking-related cues around them, due to the positive thoughts they've already attributed between smoking and the cues they were exposed to while smoking. Attentional bias has also been associated with clinically relevant symptoms such as anxiety and depression.