Card-sorting performance was a joint function of drive (shock) level and task complexity (p < .001). Results are discussed in terms of Hull-Spence behavior theory, the narrowed attention hypothesis, and the Yerkes-Dodson hypothesis.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
CallawayE.IIIThompsonS. V.Sympathetic activity and perception. Psychosom. Med., 1953, 15, 443–455.
2.
SpenceK. W.Behavior theory and learning. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1960.
3.
TecceJ. J.DiMartinoM.Effects of heightened drive (shock) on performance in a tachistoscopic color-word interference task. Psychol. Rep., 1964, 16, 93–94.
4.
TecceJ. J.HappS. J.Effects of shock-arousal on a card-sorting test of color-word interference. Percept. mot. Skills, 1964, 19, 905–906.
5.
TecceJ. J.TarnellM.Focal and incidental movement time as a function of shock arousal in humans. J. Psychol., 1965, 59, 155–158.
6.
WinerB. J.Statistical principles in experimental design. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962.
7.
YerkesR. M.DodsonJ. D.The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit-formation. J. comp. Neurol. Psychol., 1908, 18, 459–482.
