ABSTRACT

Psychopathologists have increasingly applied the concepts and methods of cognitive experimental psychology to identify information-processing abnormalities that may cause the signs and symptoms of anxiety disorders (for reviews, see Eysenck, 1992; Mathews & MacLeod, 1994; McNally, 1994, 1996; Williams, Watts, MacLeod, & Mathews, 1997). Several assumptions undergird this approach. First, introspection provides an insufficient basis for investigating cognition. Phenomenological self-report is crucial for diagnosis and for identifying abnormal beliefs, but fails to disclose the information-processing biases that underlie symptoms.