Abstract
Subjects rated words for self-descriptiveness, meaningfulness, and familiarity, then had an unexpected recall test. Anxious subjects recalled more self-descriptive words than low-anxiety subjects, but there was no difference in recall of nondescriptive words. This pattern held for words with negative connotations as well as positive words. The result is consistent with increased self-monitoring as anxiety increases. Words that were rated as self-descriptive were also judged to be more meaningful and more familiar, but it seems unlikely that this explains all self-reference effects in memory.
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The authors wish to acknowledge Sandra Hickel for serving as experimenter.
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Mueller, J.H., Courtois, M.R. Retention of self-descriptive and nondescriptive words as a function of test anxiety level. Motiv Emot 4, 229–237 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00995421
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00995421