Anxiety theories -- a single trait -- multiple theorists

1. What is anxiety?

a) unpleasant emotional state

(1) subjective feelings of tension, apprehension, worry
(2) activation or arousal of the autonomic nervous system

b) measures of anxiety

(1) Manifest Anxiety Scale
(2) State Trait scales
(3) situational anxiety inventories
- (a) Test anxiety
- (b) math anxiety

2. Cattell/Spielberger -- traits and states

a) Anxiety Trait versus Anxiety State

(1) Cattell, Spielberger, etc.
- (a) Anxiety trait as a susceptibility to the state
- (b) but not necessarily frequency (anxiety trait as an avoidance of the state)
(2) Components of state anxiety
- (a) 1) autonomic arousal/somatic tension
- (b) 2) worry -- attentional deficits

3. Hull-Spence -- drive theory and task difficulty

a) Anxiety as Drive

(1) Hull-Spence theory of learning and performance
- (a) Reaction potential = Habit x (Drive + Incentive)
  - i) sEr = sHr (D + K)
- (b) Habit strength reflects previous experience
- (c) Drive = … (non specific effects)
  - i) {hunger, thirst, sex}
  - ii) anxiety
(2) Anxiety and learning
- (a) eyeblink conditioning
- (b) verbal learning of easy and hard lists
- (c) Spence, Farber and McFann (1956)

b) Anxiety, Drive, and the inverted U:

(1) Broen and Storms --Hull-Spence theory with a ceiling
(2) Broadbent: Drive and error types
- (a) Probability of response = f( sEr > criterion )
- (b) ==> low drive leads to errors of ommission
- (c) high drive leads to errors of commission
- (d) intermediate drive minimizes total errors
(3) Easterbrook and cue utilization
- (a) cues vary in task relevance
- (b) central cues are task relevance
- (c) anxiety narrows range of cue utilization

c) Weiner and Schneider's comparison of anxiety, task difficulty, and feedback

(1) task difficulty versus feedback
(2) also evidence for carry over of motivation?

4. Mandler-Sarason-Wine-- attention allocation

a) anxiety and attentional allocation

b) Anxiety as an inappropriate response

(1) Sarason and test anxiety
- (a) "attention" is diverted to off task thoughts
- (b) should be able to redirect attention
(2) Jeri Wine -- anxiety and attentional deficit

5. Atkinson-Birch --dynamic models

a) Original model

(1) Anxiety and fear of failure
(2) Resultant tendency is Tendency to approach - tendency to avoid
- (a) Tr = Tach - Taf = (Ms - Maf) Ps x (1- Ps)

b) Revised model

(1) Instigating forces as function of Ms`
(2) Inhibitory forces as function of Maf
(3) Success reduces negaction (avoidance) as well as approach motivation.
(4) Failure increases approach and avoidance motivation
(5) Anxious people are more motivated to avoid failure than to seek reward, and thus are facilitated by success and hindered by failure.
(6) Non anxious people are motivated to seek reward, and are facilitated by small amounts of failure.

6. M. W. Eysenck -- memory capacity

a) working memory impairments

b) complex task deficits

7. MacLeod, Mathews -- attention and memory

a) anxiety and selective attention

(1) anxiety biases attention towards the threat cue

b) depression and differential encoding

8. Gray: BIS/BAS/FFS

a) reformulation of Eysenck's model

(1) Anxiety and the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)
(2) Impulsivity and Behavioral Activation System (BAS)
(3) Aggression and the Fight/Flight System (FFS)

b) Implications for current theory

9. Watson & Clark -- Anxiety, Depression, and Negative Affectivity

a) Two dimensions of affective reactions

(1) Negative affect
(2) Positive affect

b) Anxiety as high NA, high tension