To better understand the communication apprehension (CA) of students in classroom situations, this research investigated the trait and state anxiety of students enrolled in 10 sections of a public speaking course taught at a large Southeastern University. Each of the 195 students (81 males and 114 females) was asked to complete a trait-measure (PRCA-24) one week before and again one week after delivering three required speeches. To measure the state-anxiety, each student was asked to complete the Speaker Anxiety Scale (SA Scale) immediately after delivering each of the three informative speeches. / Five minutes before Speech 2, randomly selected students participated in one of the following treatments: (1) exit the room (E), (2) physical activity (PA), (3) visualization/deep breathing activity (VA), and (4) remain in the room (R), which was considered a control treatment. The treatments were chosen based on suggestions found in various public speaking textbooks to help reduce speaker anxiety. / A comparison of scores reported by the student on the SA Scale for the four treatment groups suggests the following: (1) both the PA and VA treatments were effective in reducing anxiety, (2) the effects of the treatments were considered temporary, and (3) students in the VA and R groups reported the greatest reduction in levels of anxiety from Speech 1 to Speech 3. A comparison of the difference in the posttest and pretest scores of the low, moderate, and high CA students suggests the largest reduction in CA was reported by the high CAs who participated in the PA treatment prior to Speech 2. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-07, Section: A, page: 2386. / Major Professor: Theodore Clevenger, Jr. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76923 |
| Contributors | Halvorson, Sandra K., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 167 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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