THE RELATION BETWEEN MANIFEST ANXIETY AND RATE OF EYEBLINK IN A STRESS SITUATION.
Abstract
Rate of eyeblink can be used an an index of generalized muscular tension. It has been found that in certain learning situations anxious individuals exhibit a large amount of muscular tension as compared with non-anxious individuals. The present experiment was designed to determine (1) whether blink-rate increases in a verbal stress situation, and (2) whether blink-rate responses in this situation are positively related to anxiety level. A free association test of 17 words was administered to 24 naval aviation cadets. The test was made up of words classified as stressful, mildly stressful, and non-stressful. Eyeblink responses to each word were determined, and several measures of blink rate were correlated with two measures of anxiety level - the Taylor Anxiety Scale and the Saslow Screening Inventory. The words classified as stressful evoked a significantly larger number of eyeblinks than the words classified as non-stressful. There was a significant positive correlation between blink-rate response to stressful and anxiety level as measured by the Saslow Screening Inventory. Anxiety level was uncorrelated with response to non-stressful words. Verbal stress thus appears to produce increased muscular tension, and anxious individuals exhibit more tension than non-anxious individuals in response to verbal stress stimuli but not in response to neutral verbal stimuli. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 13, 1957
- Accession Number
- AD0620257
Entities
People
- Donald G. Doehring
Organizations
- Central Institute for the Deaf