Laboratory studies have demonstrated that task-unrelated image and thought (TUIT) likelihood decreased with increased age, displayed a circadian rhythm, and increased with hyperactivity; these outcomes are consistent with the speculation that TUIT production is directly related to brain activation/arousal level. We examined the association between TUIT likelihood and depression and anxiety and their putative activation/arousal levels. Individuals diagnosed with a major depressive disorder reported TUITs while performing a vigilance task. Significant, p < .05, correlations indicated that deeper depression, dejection, and perceived fatigue were associated with a reduced likelihood of unintentional TUITs and greater anxiety were associated with increased likelihood of unintentional TUITs. These results were consistent with an association between arousal/activation and unbidden TUIT likelihood.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
GiambraL. M., Adult Male Daydreaming across the Life Span: A Replication, Further Analyses, and Tentative Norms Based upon Retrospective Reports, International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 8, pp. 197–228, 1977–78.
2.
GiambraL. M., Sex Differences in Daydreaming and Related Mental Activity from the Late Teens to the Early Nineties, International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 10, pp. 1–34, 1979–80.
3.
GiambraL. M., The Influence of Aging on Spontaneous Shifts of Attention from External Stimuli to the Contents of Consciousness, Experimental Gerontology, 28, pp. 485–492, 1993.
4.
GiambraL. M., Task-Unrelated-Thought Frequency as a Function of Age: A Laboratory Study, Psychology and Aging, 4, pp. 136–143, 1989.
5.
GiambraL. M.GrodskyA., The Influence of Age on the Frequency of Spontaneous Task-Unrelated-Thought Intrusions during Reading, Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 11, pp. 367–379, 1991–92.
6.
GiambraL. M.RosenbergE. H.KasperS.YeeW.SackD. A., A Circadian Rhythm in the Frequency of Spontaneous Task-Unrelated Images and Thoughts, Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 8, pp. 309–314, 1988–89.
7.
ShawG. A.GiambraL. M., Task-Unrelated-Thoughts of College Students Diagnosed as Hyperactive in Childhood, Developmental Neuropsychology, 9, pp. 17–30, 1993.
8.
American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd Ed., rev), American Psychiatric Association, Washington, D.C., 1987.
9.
BrownG. W.HarrisT., Social Origins of Depression: A Study of Psychiatric Disorder in Women, The Free Press, New York, 1979.
10.
EllisH. C.SeibertP. S.HerbertB. J., Mood State Effects on Thought Listing, Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 28, pp. 147–150, 1990.
11.
BeckA. T.RushA. J.ShawB. F.EmeryG., Cognitive Therapy of Depression, Guilford, New York, 1979.
12.
DobsonK. S.ShawB. F., Cognitive Assessment of Major Depressive Disorders, Cognitive Therapy and Research, 10, pp. 13–29, 1986.
13.
HollonS. D.KendallP. C., Cognitive Self-statements in Depression: Development of an Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire, Cognitive Therapy and Research, 4, pp. 383–395, 1980.
14.
KendallP. C.HollonS. D., Assessing Self-referent Speech: Methods in the Measurement of Self-statements, in Assessment Strategies for Cognitive-behavioral Interventions, HollonP. C.HollonS. D. (eds.), Academic Press, New York, pp. 85–118, 1981.
15.
MeichenbaumD. H.ButlerL., Cognitive Ethology: Assessing Streams of Cognition and Emotion, in Advances in the Study of Communication and Affect: Assessment and Modification of Emotional Behavior (Vol. 6), BlankensteinK.PlinerP.PolivyJ. (eds.), Plenum Press, New York, 1979.
16.
IngramR. E.LumryA. E.CruetD.SieberW., Attentional Processes in Depressive Disorders, Cognitive Therapy and Research, 11, pp. 351–360, 1987.
17.
HollonS. D.KendallP. C.LumryA., Specificity of Depressotypic Cognitions in Clinical Depression, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95, pp. 52–59, 1986.
18.
HarrellT. H.RyonN. B., Cognitive-behavioral Assessment of Depression: Clinical Validation of the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51, pp. 721–725, 1983.
19.
UlemanJ. S.BarghJ. A. (eds.), Unintended Thought, The Guilford Press, New York, 1989.
20.
HartlageS.AlloyL. B.VazquezC.DykmanB., Automatic and Effortful Processing in Depression, Psychological Bulletin, 113, pp. 247–278, 1993.
21.
KendallP. C.WatsonD. (eds.), Anxiety and Depression, Academic Press, New York, 1989.
22.
GotlibI. H.CaneD. B., Self-report Assessment of Depression and Anxiety, in Anxiety and Depression, KendallP. C.WatsonD. (eds.), Academic Press, New York, pp. 131–169, 1989.
23.
RosenhanD. L.SeligmanM. E. P., Abnormal Psychology, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 1984.
24.
BeckA. T.EmeryG., Anxiety Disorders and Phobias: A Cognitive Perspective, Basic Books, New York, 1985.
25.
McNairD. M.LorrM.DropplemanL. F., Profile of Mood States, EdiTS/Educational and Industrial Testing Service, San Diego, 1971.
26.
OttavianaR.BeckA. T., Cognitive Theory of Depression, in Affect, Cognition and Social Behavior, FiedlerK.ForgasJ. (eds.), C. J. Hogrefe, Toronto; pp. 209–218, 1988.
27.
BeckA. T.WardC. H.MendelsonM.MockJ.ErhaughJ., An Inventory for Measuring Depression, Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, pp. 561–571, 1961.
28.
DobsonK. S.BreiterH. J., Cognitive Assessment of Depression: Reliability and Validity of Three Measures, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 92, pp. 286–297, 1983.
29.
ByrneD. G., Vigilance and Arousal in Depressive States, British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 15, pp. 267–274, 1976.
30.
BeckA. T., Cognitive Therapy, Behavior Therapy, Psychoanalysis, and Pharmacotherapy: A Cognitive Continuum, in Cognition and Psychotherapy, MahoneyM. J.FreemanA. (eds.), Plenum, New York, 1985.
