EFFECTS OF ANXIETY AND SOCIALLY MEDIATED ANXIETY REDUCTION ON PAIRED-ASSOCIATE LEARNING

Investigations of anxiety reduction as a function of affiliation have tended to utilize self-report or physiological data as the dependent measure. The use of a 3rd, behavioral measure, verbal learning, was demonstrated. Behavioral, self-report, and physiological measures were taken from 60 1st-born female Ss. Data from all 3 sources suggest that it is possible to select behavioral measures, such as paired-associate learning, that reflect changes in anxiety levels that are usually inferred from self-report or physiological data. It is suggested that, given present imperfect knowledge of these 3 measures, the use of a combination of them, as previously recommended by B. Martin and by R. H. Walters and R. D. Parke, provides a more comprehensive measurement of anxiety and anxiety reduction than the single index (self-report or physiological measure) that is customarily employed in social-psychological experiments. (25 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.