Psychology Seminar: Dr. Tobias Kube (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)

Dr Tobias Kube, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

Biased belief updating in mental disorders - psychological mechanisms and clinical applications

While negative beliefs have been recognised as a core feature of mental disorders such as depression for decades, it is only recently that research has focused on systematically investigating the changeability of beliefs. As such, research has shown that negative beliefs, once established, often persist and are unlikely to be revised in response to positive, disconfirming experiences. In this talk, I will present recent evidence for this so-called biased belief updating, which has most extensively been researched in depression. In addition, I will discuss both the cognitive and affective mechanisms underlying the biased update of beliefs in depression. Furthermore, beyond depression, I will present recent evidence from our experimental studies demonstrating that other mental disorders are also associated with biased belief updating. In the last part of this talk, I will discuss evidence for potential intervention strategies thought to modify biased belief updating and improve the integration of novel positive experiences.

Zoom link: https://sabanciuniv.zoom.us/j/92228339332