The purpose of this research was to examine how attachment anxiety and rejection-salience interacted to influence condom use intentions and beliefs. I manipulated rejection-salience specific to a sexual encounter (Study 1) and rejection-salience in general (Studies 2 and 3). I hypothesized that among women who were high in anxiety, those in the rejection-salient condition would report riskier sexual tendencies related to condom use compared to those in the control condition. I did not expect rejection-salience to influence the sexual tendencies of women who were low in anxiety. In Study 1, I manipulated potential partner rejection and found that attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, and rejection-salience interacted to influence intentions to engage in unprotected sex. As expected, among women who were high in anxiety and low in avoidance, those in the rejection condition reported stronger intentions to have unprotected sex than those in the control condition. Unexpectedly, the same was true for women who were low in anxiety and high in avoidance. In Study 2, I manipulated general rejection-salience and asked women to indicate how many weeks into a relationship would be appropriate before switching from having protected to unprotected sex. Consistent with the results of Study 1, among women who were high in anxiety, those in the rejection-salience condition reported less time before switching compared to those in the control condition, demonstrating more risky sexual tendencies. In Study 3, I manipulated general rejection-salience and asked women to report how many weeks into a relationship unprotected intercourse should occur. Inconsistent with my predictions, as well as from the results of Studies 1 and 2, among women who were high in anxiety and low in avoidance, those in the rejection-salience condition reported that unprotected sex belonged later in a relationship timeline compared to those in the control condition. Study 4 explored how the exposure to positive relationship thoughts may act to buffer the influence of rejection-salience on risky sexual tendencies among highly anxious women. Some preliminary support for this hypothesis was found. Future research directions and implications for the literature on condom use and for sexual health promotion are discussed. / Thesis (Ph.D, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2012-06-28 18:11:21.488

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There is a growing body of research into the effects of micronutrients on human mental health. There is evidence that multi-ingredient formulas are beneficial especially in relation to serious mental health disorders such as mood and anxiety disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorders. However there is almost no scientific research which looks at the effects of these formulas in an animal population. Therefore the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a micronutrient formula, EMPowerplus, on anxiety behaviour in rats, and whether there is a relationship between dose and anxiolytic effect. In order to investigate this 40 male and 40 female rats received a diet consisting of either 0%, 1.25%, 2.5% or 5% EMP+ from when they were weaned (post natal day 30) until the end of testing 141 days later. Animals were tested in a Y maze, a light-dark emergence box and an open field at mid-adulthood (PND 136-138) and late adulthood (PND 186-188). Results found that animals receiving the 5% supplemented diet occupied the centre squares the most, occupied the corner squares the least and ambulated the most in the open field compared to the other experimental groups and control groups. No significant differences were found in the Y maze or Light-dark box. Animals were found to display more anxiety-like behaviour at time 2 than at time 1 regardless of receiving a supplemented diet or not. Overall a higher dose of EMP+ was associated with the greatest reduction in anxiety related behaviour. Due to the impact of the September 4th, 2010 Canterbury Earthquake caution should be taken when interpreting these results.

This thesis was designed as a partial test of two hypotheses concerning the effects of manifest anxiety on the learning of a concept formation task. The Taylor-Spence hypothesis has suggested that anxiety functions as a drive in the Hullian model relation drive to habit strength in a multiplicative manner. Taylor ahs devised the Manifest Anxiety Scale to measure this drive level. A review of the literature indicated inconsistencies in the results of studies dealing with complex human learning. Saltz has suggested an alternative hypothesis to account for the inconsistencies in the research results. The results of this study indicated that Saltz’ hypothesis was substantiated and is the more defensible of the two. An interpretation of the results, the limitations of this study, and suggestions for further research are discussed.

This study was intended to investigate the interactive effects of intelligence and anxiety on the formation of disjunctive concepts. It was hypothesized that high intelligence, low anxious subjects would form more correct concepts, make fewer errors in the process of forming the concept, and particularly fewer errors of inclusion. The results dictated that all three hypotheses be rejected. Only a small number of subjects arrived at the correct concept, and for this reason it was concluded that the task was too difficult. It was also concluded that because the task appeared to be too difficult, potential significant effects may have been obscured.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of rational desensitization therapy on the reduction of the test anxiety of college students. The feasibility of this approach to test anxiety reduction was examined by comparing the reduction of anxiety of four experimental groups of subjects with the anxiety reduction of subjects in a control group. Students indicating that they had test anxiety were randomly assigned to groups based on the limitations of their schedules. Students assigned to the control group did not participate in the treatment phase of the study. Students comprising the sample were enrolled in Human Growth and Development (Educational Psychology 250) classes during the Spring Quarter of 1971. No exclusions from the study were made on the basis of age, sex, marital status, education, color or creed.The basic design of the study included the selection of test anxious college students. These students attended an orientation and pre treatment testing session. Thirty-two students comprised the original treatment group and twenty-eight were chosen as the control group. Four experimental groups met twice a week for five weeks with an experimentor. The control group of students took the pre and post treatment tests but did not attend group treatment sessions.An analysis of covariance was used to test for significance between the means of the experimental and control groups. In instances where heterogeneity of the regression line was found, a factorial design was used to analyze the level by treatment level interaction of the experimental and control groups on the pre and post tests. Fifteen null hypothesis were tested with the .05 level of confidence necessary for rejection.No significant differences were obtained in the reduction of test anxiety between the means of the composite four rational desensitization groups and the control group as shown by the Suinn Test Anxiety Behavior Scale and the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale. However, the changes were larger for the Suinn and Taylor Scales than for the Digit Symbol sub-test of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale.An analysis of the results on the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, the Suinn Test Anxiety Behavioral Scale and the Digit Symbol sub-test of the WAIS revealed F values of 3.81. 3.55 and 1.53 respectively. An F value of 4.03 was needed for significance at the .05 confidence level.Subjective data, such as comments from experimenters and verbal feedback from subjects who participated in the experimental groups, offer support to warrant continued investigation of rational desensitization therapy as a viable approach to the reduction of test anxiety and to the possibility of its applicability to other types of behavior disorders.

Math anxiety refers to the negative reaction that many people experience when placed in situations that require mathematical problem solving (Richardson & Suinn, 1972). This reaction can range from seemingly minor frustration to overwhelming emotional and physiological disruption (Ashcraft & Moore, 2009). In fact, it has been argued that math anxiety can be considered as a genuine phobia given that it is a state anxiety reaction, shows elevated cognitive and physiological arousal, and is a stimulus-learned fear (Faust, 1992). Math anxiety has been associated with many negative consequences, the most pertinent of which is poor achievement in math. This negative consequence is of central importance in today???s society as people???s mathematical abilities have been shown to strongly influence their employability, productivity, and earnings (Bishop, 1989; Bossiere, Knight, Sabot, 1985; Riviera-Batiz, 1992) A large literature exists demonstrating a negative relation between math anxiety and performance on complex math. That said, there is currently no published research (outside of that presented in this thesis) which investigates whether math anxiety is also related to the basic processes that serve as the foundations for that complex math. In this thesis I examine the relation between math anxiety and three of these basic processes that support complex mathematical problem solving. Specifically, in a series of experiments, I demonstrate that, in addition to their difficulties with complex math, high math anxious adults perform more poorly than their low math anxious peers on measures of counting (Experiments 1 and 2), numerical comparison (Experiment 3 and 4), and spatial processing (Experiment 5 and 6). My findings are then discussed with respect to their implications for our understanding of math anxiety and for potential remediation programs.

This study investigated whether or not receiving cognitive modification counseling would lead to reduced debilitating test anxiety, as measured by the Achievement Anxiety Test (AAT), and improved standardized test performance, as measured by the School and College Abilities Test (SCAT). The subjects were test anxious college students of high, middle, and low ability levels. It was predicted that test anxious students who received cognitive modification counseling would experience greater reductions in test anxiety than would test anxious students who did not receive such counseling. It was further predicted that concomitant with test anxiety reduction, students of middle ability would demonstrate greater improvement on a standardized aptitude test than would students of high or low ability who had received counseling or students of high, middle, or low aptitude who had not received counseling.SCAT and AAT pre-tests were administered to 776 college undergraduates, the majority of whom were freshmen. Students were designated as being of high, middle, or low ability level on the basis of their SCAT standard scores. Those students who scored within the highest 27% on the AAT were invited to participate in counseling and volunteers were randomly assigned to experimental and wait-list control groups. A total of 68 volunteer subjects' participated in the study.Experimental subjects were randomly assigned, within the limitations of their time schedules, to three counseling groups of 9-14 subjects per group. The author acted as counselor for all groups, which each met for five sessions over a period of three weeks. Meichenbaum's (1972) cognitive modification procedures were followed in all sessions.Experimental and wait-list control groups were post-tested with the AAT and an. alternate form of the SCAT. A two factor multivariate analysis of covariance design was used to analyze the data. The independent variable was counseling and no-counseling. AAT and SCAT post-test scores were the dependent variables measured, with SCAT pre-test scores serving as the covariate.Analysis of the data revealed that debilitating test anxiety was significantly (p.< .01) reduced for subjects who received cognitive modification counseling. Performance scores on the SCAT post-test, however, were the same for both counseled and wait-list control subjects. Analysis of the interaction between treatement and ability level also revealed no significant differences. Standardized test scores were essentially the same, within ability levels, for counseled and wait-list control subjects.The findings of this study support the effectiveness of cognitive modification counseling as a technique for reducing test anxiety among college students. They do not, however, support the contention that test anxiety has a detrimental effect on standardized test performance or the differential effects, reported in previous studies, of test anxiety on learning and test performance among students of high, average, and low ability. Methodological limitations encountered in the study, however, make hazardous the arrival at conclusions regarding the effect of test anxiety on test performance.The results of this study indicate that counselors may need to consider combining instruction in study techniques with cognitive modification counseling when attempting to bring about improved test performance among test anxious college students. The results also suggest that school psychologists may accept with confidence the group standardized test scores of students who report themselves to be test anxious.Recommendations for further research concerning the interactive effects of test anxiety and ability level on standardized test performance include: the use of an actual standardized test situation, i.e., a regularly scheduled administration of the Scholastic Aptitude Test; and comparison between group and individual standardized test scores of test anxious students.

This study was designed to determine whether or not there is anxiety change during periods of unstructured time in people who were identified and classified as inner-directed and other-directed individuals. The intent was also to examine the relationship between self-concept and anxiety change in the two classifications.The research was planned to examine three hypotheses. A t test was administered for significance of difference in anxiety change between the inner- and other-directed classifications, and correlation coefficients were established in order to examine the relationship between anxiety and self-concept in the two classifications. The data used in this study were collected from the test results on the modified scale from the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI), the scores from the pretests and posttests of the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (TMAS), and the scores from the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS).The TMAS was administered to 28 participants in an unstructured workshop on creativity on the first day and again on the afternoon of the fourth day when the workshop was completed. The TSCS and the modified scale from the POI were administered on the second day.The 28 subjects included 8 men and 20 women employed by the Louisville Board of Education. Administrators, teachers, social workers, and paraprofessionals volunteered for this experience. They ranged in age from 18 to 55.Subjects scoring in the upper two quartiles on the modified inner- and other-directed POI scale were classified as inner-directed; whereas those scoring in the lower two quartiles were classifed as other-directed. Two pilot studies were conducted with this modified scale previous to its use on this study. Hypothesis #1 was examined by comparing the means of the anxiety change scores which were taken from the TMAS pretests and posttests. A t test was administered for significance of difference between the two means of the TMAS pretest and posttests and was significant at the .05 level of confidence.Hypotheses #2 and #3 were examined by using a correlation co-efficient on the anxiety change scores and the Total P scores from the T SCS. The r's were examined, but the relationship between anxiety change and the self-concept scores of this population were not significant in either classification. The self-concept of the inner-directed, however, was significantly higher than the self-concept of the other-directed.The inner-directed subjects dropped significantly in anxiety scores after the unstructured time. Other-directed subjects did have an increase in anxiety scores, but it was not significant at the .05 level of confidence.