The attentional control of pain: methodological and theoretical concerns
Abstract
Although it is now well accepted that attention-based cognitive coping strategies are effective in altering pain perception and have potentially useful analgesic qualities, there exists contradiction and equivocation as to the role of various factors in the production of that analgesia. Cioffi (1991) has suggested that the response to this equivocation has been a 'collective ennui' on the part of researchers. This article seeks to explore methodological and theoretical reasons for this reigning equivocation and offers some suggestions for moving beyond it. In particular, critical attention is focussed upon four possible sources of variance in experimental pain procedures: the choice of the pain induction procedure, the instructions given, the measures taken and the content of the taught strategy.
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There is a well-documented history of contradiction in attention and pain research.
“Despite the many years of focused work on attention and pain, there is a well-documented history of contradiction8”
Cites
Beyond attentional strategies: a cognitive-perceptual model of somatic interpretation
Cioffi, D. (1991) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.109.1.25 · Cited by 426 · cited 3× · see citing works
“Cioffi (1991) has recently drawn attention to these issues and suggests that more emphasis be given to the 'content ' of the coping strategy rather than to any single component, such as imagery load or direction of attention.”
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“, its direction (Mullen and Suls 1982)), each strategy can be redescribed as containing many possibly important factors.”
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“to find effects in either direction [12,21,32,33].”
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- Authors
- Eccleston, C.
- Venue
- Pain
- Published
- 1995-10
- Volume
- 63
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 3-10
- ISSN
- 0304-3959 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2030843109
- Cited by
- 174
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 15
- FWCI
- 0.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Pain (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Pediatric Pain Management Techniques
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
- Keywords
- cognitive coping, analgesia, pain perception, instruction, methodological issues, theoretical issues
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Analgesia, Attention, Cognition, Humans, Pain, Perception, Pain Threshold, Pain Management
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