The Effects of Psychosocial Threat on Working Memory Performance in Anxious Individuals
2024-05-24
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The Effects of Psychosocial Threat on Working Memory Performance in Anxious Individuals
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2024-05-24
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A large area of anxiety research assesses two key characteristics, state and trait anxiety. Scholars find that individuals with high trait anxiety have difficulty disengaging their attention away from threatening stimuli. When in a threatening situation, people may experience elevated heart rate, increased skin conductance, and ruminating thoughts. This can distract the individual during decision-making and further disturb their memory. Thus, the current experiment intended to examine specific variables that affect the relationship between stress and working memory performance in anxious and non-anxious individuals. Variables that were expected to influence working memory performance included levels of state and trait anxiety, and physiological arousal. Participants first completed a complex working memory task (OSPAN task) followed by undergoing a common psychosocial stressor (Trier Social Stress Test) and completed the OSPAN task again. Heart rate and skin conductance levels were also collected. Results showed that heart rate and skin conductance levels were significantly elevated during the Trier Social Stress Test compared to baseline measures. State anxiety also significantly increased from baseline to after the stress test. Furthermore, overall working memory performance was better on the second round of the working memory task. However, participants who experienced the greatest increases in state anxiety performed the worst on the second round. The current findings contribute to the growing body of literature on the individual’s cognitive and physiological responses as they experience anxiety and stress.
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A Plan B Research Defense submitted to the faculty of the University of Minnesota by Jillian C. Anderson in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts, 2024. This item has been modified from the original to redact the signature present.
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