anxiety Flashcards
What is anxiety?
A negative emotional state characterised by nervousness, worry and apprehension which impairs performance
What is trait anxiety?
An acquired behavioural tendency or disposition that influences behaviour. (chronic)
What is state anxiety?
Characterised by subjective, consciously perceived feelings of apprehension and tension, accompanied by or as associated with activation or arousal of the autonomic nervous system. (temporary situation based)
What is a cognitive response to anxiety?
Negative concerns about performance, “i cant do this”, not focusing on performance
What is a somatic response to anxiety?
Perceptions of bodily symptoms of automatic reactivity, increased heart rate, shaking hands, not sleeping well
What is the attentional control theory (ACT)?
Developed in cognitive psychology to explain how cognitive anxiety (trait) influences cognitive performance
What does ACT predict?
That anxiety impairs processing efficiency more than performance effectiveness. It predicts anxiety has 2 effects:
Pre-empts storage and processing resources of working memory, disrupting performance in mentally demanding tasks
Can lead to allocation of additional processing resources (e.g. effort or time) or alternative processing strategies (e.g. seeking help) to maintain performance.
What is inhibition?
Helps resist disruption or interference from task irrelevant stimuli
What is shifitng?
Helps shift attention to remain focused on task relevant stimuli
