THE RELATIONSHIP OF LIFE STRESS TO PROBLEM-SOLVING - TASK COMPLEXITY AND INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES

To examine the hypothesis that a fixed-capacity information-processing model (Kahneman, 1973) can be used to explain the relationship between problem-solving errors and life stress as moderated by state anxiety and private body consciousness (PBC; Miller, Murphy & Buss, 1981), we administered a series of simple (two-term) and more complex (three-term) analogies to undergraduate subjects. The results indicated that performance on the two-term problems was unrelated to the individual-difference variables, to life stress, or to the strategies employed. On three-term problems, however, students high in life stress, state anxiety, and private body consciousness performed more poorly and were more likely to employ nonsystematic scanning of alternative solutions to the analogies. Moreover, non-systematic scanning appeared to mediate the relationship between the individual-difference variables and performance. The data fit a model in which life stress and state anxiety have the potential to consume scarce cognitive resources. People who are highly sensitive to their own autonomic responses (high-PBC) appear more likely to show performance decrements and to use nonoptimal solution strategies as compared with people less aware of their own autonomic responses (low-PBC).