Effects of test anxiety and reinforcement history on verbal behavior.

Abstract

College Ss, differing in Test Anxiety Scale (TAS) scores, engaged in self-description on 2 consecutive days. They also were administered personality indices on these days. Groups of Ss were reinforced for negative self-references (NSR) either on both days or on Day 2 only or not at all. Reinforced Ss emitted a higher % NSR than did nonreinforced Ss. Reinforcement history differentially affected the verbalizations of Ss differing in TAS scores, but did not influence scores on the personality indices. High TAS Ss describe themselves in more negative terms than do low TAS Ss. Increasing emphasis on the cue properties of reinforcement would seem to be worthwhile in interpreting results in free verbalization situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)