Cognitive Responses under Stress: The Effect of Examination Stress on Commonality of Verbal Associations

The present study determined the impact of a familiar stress situation, the college examination, on commonality of verbal associations. Three groups of college students responded to a word-association test under the following conditions: one group was tested first under examination stress and then in a normal classroom setting; a second group was tested in the reverse of this order while a third group, serving as an over-all control, was tested twice under normal conditions. Contrary to drive theory, the results indicated that anxiety tends to weaken the bond between pairs of verbal associates, reducing the frequency of common responses. The decrement in commonality was least in words of high response strength. It was concluded that loosened verbal associations—in mild form—are typical reactions to stress in normal persons. The implications of the results are discussed in reference to dedifferentiation theory and psychopathology.