Anxiety and intellectual performance: A partial failure to replicate.

The study tried to replicate Sarason's (1957) findings of the interfering effect of test anxiety and the facilitating effect of general anxiety on academic work. The study also tested the generality of the Taylor-Spence (1952) hypothesis of the negative effect of anxiety on behavior. A study of the effects of different types of anxiety on academic performance, Taylor, Test, and General anxiety scores, course grades and grade-point averages were obtained on private college Ss (N = 55) and state college Ss (N = 70). Results failed to demonstrate a significant correlation between Test anxiety and academic work, but confirmed the facilitating influence of general anxiety on course grade. The differential effects of anxiety were discussed in terms of the interaction between anxiety and grade level, overlearning, nature of the tasks, and intellectual ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Test anxiety and intellectual performance.

High school students were administered 2 anxiety scales, the Test Anxiety Scale and a Need for Achievement scale. Scores on these tests were related to scores on the School and College Ability Test (SCAT). Test anxiety was found to be negatively correlated with SCAT scores. The negative correlations obtained tended to be larger for female than for male Ss. The Need for Achievement scale showed only a slight tendency to correlate negatively with SCAT scores. The results were interpreted as being consistent with the conception of anxiety as an interfering nonintellectual influence on intellectual performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual anxiety thresholds and their effect on intellectual performance.

"The results were as follows: (a) Schizophrenics show significantly more response disorganization on abstract intellectual tasks under anxiety conditions than under nonanxiety conditions; (b) the amount of response disorganization is a function of the individual's pattern of differential thresholds of anxiety; (c) the amount of response disorganization is inversely related to the degree of abstract conceptual ability." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of evidence relating to effects of desegregation on the intellectual performance of Negroes.

"This is a review of evidence regarding the effects of educational desegregation on the scholastic achievement of Negroes. It focuses on the problem of identifying the important situational determinants of Negro performance in the racially mixed classroom. Only a few studies have dealt directly with this problem, so that much of the evidence… is only inferential. Included are reports on the academic progress of Negro children attending integrated schools, evidence on aspects of the minority child's experience in desegregation that presumably affect his motivation to learn, relevant research on the behavioral effects of psychological stress, and finally, a series of experiments on Negro productivity in biracial settings." In desegregated school situations "there appear to be a variety of favorable and detrimental influences on Negro performance." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Desegregation and the intellectual performance of the Negro: Comment.

I should like to make three criticisms of Irwin Katz' timely and stimulating article, "Review of Evidence Relating to Effects of Desegregation on the Intellectual Performance of Negroes" (see record 1965-01781-001). My first criticism is that the author failed to include in his extensive bibliography reference to several pertinent studies/papers. My second criticism is directed against the author's failure to consider the possibility of hereditary differences between Negro and white children. My third criticism is directed toward the widespread tendency of psychologists to neglect the importance of heredity as a determinant of behavior, personality, and even of the environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of acceptance-oriented versus evaluative emotional processing on heart rate recovery and habituation.

The effects of emotional processing on stress response trajectories may depend on the nature of processing, as evaluative rumination about emotions can prolong distress. In contrast, observing negative emotions in an accepting manner may promote efficient recovery from stressful situations. The present study examined the effect of acceptance-oriented versus evaluative emotional processing on cardiovascular habituation and recovery. Across two experimental sessions, 81 participants were randomly assigned to write about an ongoing stressful experience while either (1) evaluating the appropriateness of their emotional response (EVAL), (2) attending to their emotions in an accepting way (ACC), or (3) describing the objective details of the experience (CTL). Heart rate was assessed continuously throughout baseline, writing, and recovery. Results suggest that writing about emotions in an evaluative way leads to less efficient heart rate habituation and recovery than processing emotions in an accepting manner. These findings highlight a potential mechanism of mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions' effects on health outcomes and further suggest that habitually evaluating the appropriateness of one's emotional responses rather than accepting them as they unfold may have consequences for cardiovascular health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

基于心率监测的建筑工人生理疲劳分析

人体在进入疲劳状态时生理参数会发生相应的变化.为了探讨砌砖工人在持续体力劳动作业时心率和心率变异(HRV)对人体生理疲劳的影响,针对疲劳与心率的关系提出评价生理疲劳的数学模型.选取15名健康受试者(男性)在搭建的86 cm平台模拟砌砖工人作业.持续作业30 min进行一次心率变异数据的收集.同时,使用心率传感器对心率进行实时监测.本文采用方差分析、t检验和非线性拟合的方法对疲劳对心率和心率变异的影响进行分析.结果表明,生理疲劳使心率波动程度有显著变化(检验水准α=0.05水平,概率P<0.05),随着生理疲劳程度的加重,人体心率需要更长的时间才能恢复至正常值.受试者HRV并无显著性差异(α=0.05,P>0.05).非线性拟合结果(R²=0.8892)显示,生理疲劳的发展趋势呈现出\     

Effects of two yoga based relaxation techniques on heart rate variability (HRV).

Heart rate variability (HRV) was studied in cyclic meditation (CM) and supine rest (SR). CM included yoga postures followed by guided relaxation. Forty-two male volunteers were assessed in CM and SR sessions of 35 minutes, where CM or SR practice was preceded and followed by 5 minutes of SR. During the yoga postures of CM and after CM, low frequency power and the low frequency to high frequency power ratio decreased, whereas high frequency power increased. Heart rate increased during the yoga postures and decreased in guided relaxation and after CM. There was no change in SR. Hence, it appeared that predominantly sympathetic activation occurred in the yoga posture phases of CM while parasympathetic dominance increased after CM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intoxicated behavioral disinhibition and the heart rate response to alcohol.

This study examined the association between the heart rate (HR) response to alcohol intoxication, which is thought to reflect sensitivity to alcohol-induced reward and alcohol-induced behavioral disinhibition. High- and low-HR responders to alcohol participated in a go/no-go task, under sober and intoxicated conditions. Errors of commission on this task have previously been related to behavioral disinhibition. High-HR responders made more intoxicated commission errors as compared with low-HR responders. High-HR responders also reported increased alcohol consumption, and controlling for the latter did not alter the significant association between high-HR responders and increased intoxicated errors of commission. These results are consistent with previous findings of an increased risk for addictive and disinhibited behavioral propensities in individuals with a high-HR response to alcohol intoxication. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Posttraining lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex impair performance of Pavlovian eyeblink conditioning but have no effect on concomitant heart rate changes in rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a critical role in conditioned autonomic adjustments but is not involved in classically conditioned somatomotor responses unless the training conditions include reversal or trace conditioning. The studies showing these effects have all used pretraining lesions. The present study assessed the effects of posttraining lesions on eyeblink (EB) and heart rate (HR) conditioned responses (CRs) in both delay and trace conditioning paradigms in the rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Posttraining lesions lowered the percentage of EB CRs during retesting compared with pretesting levels for both delay and trace conditioning. Control lesions and pretraining lesions produced no significant effects during retesting. Posttraining lesions had no effect on the HR CR. These findings suggest that a critical mechanism in the mPFC is involved in retrieval of information during EB conditioning but that the mPFC integration of autonomic and somatomotor processes is not critical to this retrieval process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The intellectual performance of traumatized children and adolescents with or without posttraumatic stress disorder.

This study compared the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III) scores of traumatized youth with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the scores of trauma-exposed and nonexposed comparison groups without PTSD. All groups were free of additional major childhood psychiatric disorders. The PTSD group scored significantly lower than the comparison groups on verbal subtests, but not on performance subtests. The scores of the trauma-exposed PTSD negatives and nontrauma exposed controls were not significantly different. Accordingly, PTSD and not a history of trauma exposure in the absence of PTSD was associated with lower verbal IQ. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Classical conditioning and conditioning-specific reflex modification of rabbit heart rate as a function of unconditioned stimulus location.

Heart rate conditioning is used as an index of conditioned fear and is important for understanding disorders of anxiety and stress, including post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One important feature of PTSD is that patients generalize conditioned fear from danger signals to safety signals especially when the two signals have overlapping features. What has not been determined is whether generalization occurs between unconditioned stimuli with overlapping features. In the current experiment, heart rate conditioning and conditioning-specific reflex modification of rabbit heart rate were examined as a function of two different unconditioned stimulus locations. Heart rate conditioning occurred at identical terminal levels whether electrical stimulation was presented near the eye or on the back. Despite different heart rate response topographies to electrical stimulation at the two locations, conditioning-specific reflex modification was detected near the eye and on the back and appeared to generalize between the locations. Interestingly, only conditioning-specific reflex modification detected on the back persisted for a week after heart rate conditioning. This persistence may be a model for some features of post traumatic stress disorder. Overgeneralization of unconditioned responses to unconditioned stimuli similar to the trauma may also be an important aspect of PTSD modeled here. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neuroticism's importance in understanding the daily life correlates of heart rate variability.

Individual differences in high-frequency heart rate variability (HRV) have been conceptualized in terms of a greater capacity to self-regulate problematic outcomes, but have also been conceptualized in terms of greater moment-to-moment flexibility. From a self-regulation perspective, higher HRV should be inversely correlated with trait neuroticism and problematic daily outcomes. From a flexibility perspective, high HRV should result in more state-like functioning—that is, functioning that is more contextual and less trait-like in nature. In the latter case, HRV and trait neuroticism may interact to predict problematic outcomes such that neuroticism should be a less consequential predictor at higher levels of HRV. The flexibility perspective was systematically supported in a daily experience-sampling protocol. Implications focus on theories of neuroticism and HRV. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of noise on human performance.

"… three experiments relating performance changes to noise levels are reported. Noise levels used were about 80 db representing 'quiet' and 110 db representing 'noise."' Ss in these 3 experiments were paid volunteer male undergraduates. In Experiment I, 9 Ss were exposed to successive half hours of experimental and control sessions "to check Broadbent's previously reported results that performance on a prolonged vigilance task was poorer in noise than in quiet." In Experiment II, 14 Ss were exposed to successive periods of experimental and control sessions "as a result of a suggestion by Miles that Ss working in high energy noise fields could not keep an accurate count on how far they had gone in a repetitive task." In Experiment III, 14 Ss were exposed to successive periods of experimental and control sessions to compare judgments in quiet and in noise. "It is clear that noise produces readily measurable changes in human performance." The effects of psychological stress may have been more important than noise in determining the results. 16 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of concreteness-abstractness and anxiety on intellectual and motor performance.

Administered O. J. Harvey's "This I Believe" Test to undergraduates. 55 Ss were selected with concrete belief systems and 29 with abstract systems. Ss then played the role of arguing against their own stand on an ego-involving issue which was scored for 5 attributes: number to topics discussed, number of approaches utilized in the arguments, openness to negative evaluation, ethnocentrism, and absolutism. Ss also completed the WAIS Digit-Symbol Substitution test, a vocabulary test, an arithmetic test, the A-State scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. On the basis of the anxiety measure, Ss were divided into "high" and "low" anxiety groups, and a 2-way analysis of variance (Concreteness-Abstractness * Anxiety) was run for each of the 8 dependent variables. Anxiety exercised a significant main effect on none of the 8 dependent variables, while concreteness-abstractness significantly affected 5. The interaction of these 2 variables, while in the anticipated direction in all instances, significantly affected performance only on the vocabulary measure. (29 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of anabolic steroids on baseline and stress heart rate in cynomolgus monkeys.

This investigation examined the role of anabolic steroids on baseline heart rate (HR) and HR responses to the threat of capture in Macaca fascicularis. Ten cynomolgus monkeys were randomly assigned either to a steroid or to a sham control group. Steroid-treated animals were given testosterone injections biweekly for 10 weeks, whereas sham controls received injections of sesame oil on an identical schedule. Pretreatment and posttreatment HRs were evaluated to establish both baseline and acute-stress responses. Results revealed that animals given testosterone experienced a statistically significant increase in baseline HR when contrasted with the sham controls. No difference between the groups was detected in response to the threat of capture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of intermittent illumination on perceptual-motor performance.

The experiment was designed to determine whether under conditions of intermittent illumination there is a significant impairment in performance as measured by perceptual-motor tasks. Performance on 5 such tasks under 5 conditions of flickering light was compared with performance under steady light. Time and error scores were considered. No gross detrimental effects of intermittent illumination were detected. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Field dependence and intellectual functioning.

"The present study was designed to test the hypotheses that some intellectual and perceptual tasks have a common requirement for overcoming embedded contexts, and that relationships obtained between measures of field dependence and standard tests of intelligence are based on this common factor. Two factor analyses were conducted on matrices of correlations between cognitive tests, including tests of field dependence and the subtests of the WISC. The results tend to support both hypotheses." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood intellectual development of adult schizophrenics.

Intelligence test scores from the early and later childhoods of 153 schizophrenic adults, 124 with 2 childhood Stanford-Binet tests, and 29 with 2 childhood group tests, were found and analyzed. A statistically significant (.01) loss between early childhood (ages 5-8) and late childhood (ages 11-14) was found on both tests. A control group of 872 children from the same school system showed a gain in score on the 2 group tests between these same years and studies of retest performance of children on the Binet show relatively little loss for children at comparable levels of intelligence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal coordination and adaptation to rate change in music performance.

People often coordinate their actions with sequences that exhibit temporal variability and unfold at multiple periodicities. We compared oscillator- and timekeeper-based accounts of temporal coordination by examining musicians' coordination of rhythmic musical sequences with a metronome that gradually changed rate at the end of a musical phrase (Experiment 1) or at the beginning of a phrase (Experiment 2). The rhythms contained events that occurred at the same periodic rate as the metronome and at half the period. Rate change consisted of a linear increase or decrease in intervals between metronome onsets. Musicians coordinated their performances better with a metronome that decreased than increased in tempo (as predicted by an oscillator model), at both beginnings and ends of musical phrases. Model performance was tested with an oscillator period or timekeeper interval set to the same period as the metronome (1:1 coordination) or half the metronome period (2:1 coordination). Only the oscillator model was able to predict musicians' coordination at both periods. These findings suggest that coordination is based on internal neural oscillations that entrain to external sequences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)