The Processing Efficiency Theory of Anxiety: Allocating Resources Through Interhemispheric Interaction
Date
2000
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Haverford College. Department of Psychology
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Haverford users only
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Abstract
The present study examined how the distribution of cognitive resources through interhemispheric interaction affected the performance of high and low anxious individuals during a go/no go task. The effects of interhemispheric interaction (IHI) were measured by comparing reaction times to matching letters presented unilaterally (within visual field) with reaction times to letters which matched bilaterally (across visual field). It was hypothesized that IHI, which increases the cognitive resources available for a task, would benefit high anxious individuals moreso than low anxious subjects because worry stresses the cognitive system, especially under evaluative conditions. However, the hypothesis was not supported by the data. Non-anxious subjects benefited from IHI; anxious subjects did not, suggesting that anxious individuals may integrate information across the hemispheres less efficiently than non-anxious individuals.