| Abstract: | Investigated the the effects of 2 kinds of stimulus incongruity (surprise and nonconfirmation) on reported anxiety. Surprise incongruity involves receiving an unexpected stimulus, and nonconfirmation incongruity involves not receiving an expected stimulus. Reported anxiety was measured by a form of N. S. Endler, J. M. Hunt, and A. J. Rosenstein's (see 38:2) Stimulus Response (S-R) Inventory of Anxiousness. 4 groups of 10 female undergraduates, each, (equated for initial anxiousness) were subjected to 1 of 4 levels of surprise incongruity (high, moderate, low, control) and to 1 of 2 levels of nonconfirmation incongruity (high, 0). All groups were tested in a "listening to a tape" situation. Mean reported anxiety was greater for the high- than for the low-surprise incongruity groups (p |
