Effect of Stress on Scanning

Abstract
The aim of this study was to elucidate the influence of stressful social stimuli on the operation of the scanning cognitive control principle. The specific hypotheses to be tested were: (a) that high-scanning Ss will intensify their scanning behavior as stress is increased and (b) that low-scanning Ss will reduce their scanning behavior as stress is increased. An analysis of covariance design was used with pre- and post-measures of scanning and anxiety level as determined by a size-estimation test and the IPAT 8-Parallel-Form Anxiety Battery, respectively. Ss were 108 male volunteers from introductory psychology courses. Both hypotheses were supported by the data.