ABSTRACT
People vary in their proneness to experience anxiety, and the vulnerable ones become hypervigilant when entering a novel or potentially intimidating situation. Their hypervigilance promotes rapid and global scanning, followed by an intense narrow focus if a threat is detected. The transition from the global scanning stage to narrowly focused attention can be illustrated by the idea of tuning a radio. Initially one scans fairly rapidly across a wide band until a signal is picked up. Then we turn to fine tuning and raise the volume. So the anxious patient entering a potentially threatening situation carries out broad global scanning until a threat signal is detected. The person’s attention then focuses narrowly and intensely on the potential threat, with enhanced perceptual sensitivity and even distortion.
