The Impact of State and Trait Anxiety on Performance in a Source Monitoring Task

Abstract

This study examined the impact of state anxiety (current emotional state) and trait anxiety (predisposition) on a source monitoring task. The unique question asked in this study was whether highly anxious people who are distressed following a stressful to-be-remembered event are better at source monitoring. Seventy-two undergraduates completed a measure of anxiety and then either received an anxious mood (n = 36) or mood stabilizing (n = 36) induction before viewing to-be-source monitored material. Participants then completed a source identification task in which they were asked to identify the source of the to-be-source monitored information. Participants high in state anxiety were more accurate on the source identification task. The main effect of trait anxiety and the state-trait anxiety interaction were nonsignificant. Neither state nor trait anxiety impacted accuracy on misleading information items presented within the source identification task.