Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Previous research has shown that the relative performance of high anxious (HA) and low anxious (LA) Ss (defined by scores on the Taylor MAS) on the initial trials of a judgmental task is different depending on whether the HA and LA Ss judged in a group or individually. In this study 64 male undergraduate Ss were given the task of rating the amount of confusion exhibited in 100 vocabulary test responses taken from schizophrenics' test protocols. Because of previous research HA Ss were expected to perform less well than LA Ss on the first trial when Ss judged individually. This expectation was not borne out. When HA Ss and LA Ss worked in a group, there was no difference in performance as expected. An analysis of variance was done on the z′ values of the mean interjudge reliabilities (essentially, a measure of how well the judges agreed with each other), the variables being level of anxiety (HA or LA), social situation (group or individual condition), and sets of stimuli. All three variables plus various interactions between them had significant effects on performance.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Allport

F. H.

The influence of the group upon association and thought. J. exp. Psychol., 1920, 3, 159–182.

Allport

F. H.

Social psychology. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1924.

Child

I. L.

Personality. Ann. Rev. Psychol., 1954, 5, 149–170.

Edwards

A. L.

Experimental design in psychological research. (Rev. ed.) New York: Holt, 1960.

Hunt

W. A.

An actuarial approach to clinical judgment. In Bass

Berg

I. A.

(Eds.), Objective approaches to personality assessment. New York: Van Nostrand, 1959. Pp. 169–191.

Hunt

W. A.

Blumberg

Manifest anxiety and clinical judgment. J. clin. Psychol., 1961, 17, 8–11.

Hunt

W. A.

Jones

N. F.

The experimental investigation of clinical judgment. In Bachrach

(Ed.), Experimental foundations of clinical psychology. New York: Basic Books, 1962. Pp. 26–51.

Hunt

W. A.

Walker

R. E.

Manifest anxiety and clinical judgment—a re-examination. J. clin. Psychol., 1963, 29, 494–497.

Spence

J. T.

Learning theory and personality. In Wepman

J. M.

Heine

R. W.

(Eds.), Concepts of personality. Chicago: Aldine, 1963. Pp. 3–30.

10.

Taylor

J. A.

A personality scale of manifest anxiety. J. abnorm. soc. Psychol., 1953, 48, 285–290.

11.

Walker

R. E.

Hunt

W. A.

Schwartz

M. L.

Manifest anxiety and clinical judgment in a group setting. J. soc. person. Psychol., in press.

Judgment as a Function of Manifest Anxiety and Social Conditions

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References