ANXIETY (DRIVE) LEVEL AND PERFORMANCE IN EYELID CONDITIONING,
Abstract
A number of studies from the Iowa laboratory and elsewhere that involved a comparison of the eyelid conditioning performance of Ss scoring at the extremes of the Taylor A-Scale (MAS) were reviewed. In 21 of 25 independent comparisons, the performance differences between groups were in favor of the high A Ss, with the majority of the differences being statistically significant. Although these data, in toto, provide substantial confirmation of the implication of the drive interpretation of MAS that high A Ss should exhibit a higher level of performance than low A Ss, an attempt was made to suggest factors that might be responsible for the failure of the predicted differences to occur in some studies. It was concluded that (1) in view of the large intersubject variability in performance found in conditioning studies, relatively large N's (25 Ss per group) should be employed if consistent findings are to be obtained in studies of this type; (2) appropriate procedures providing for the elimination of so-called ''voluntary'' responders from the groups should be employed; and (3) differences between high and low A groups are most likely to appear when Ss are experimentally naive and the general experimental situation is designed to arouse some degree of apprehensiveness. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 20, 1962
- Accession Number
- AD0419894
Entities
People
- Kenneth W. Spence
Organizations
- Iowa State University