Dissertation Information for Roma Harris NAME: - Roma Harris
- (Alias) Roma M. Harris
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Psychotherapy
SCHOOL:
- University of Western Ontario (Canada) (1980)
ADVISORS: - None COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - None
MPACT Status: Incomplete - Inspected
Title: THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY ON COGNITION AND BEHAVIOR UNDER VARYING CONDITIONS OF STRESS
Abstract: "Cognitive complexity, an individual difference variable which reflects information processing capacity, was examined as a mediator of response to environmental stress. The stressors involved were unpleasant electric shocks which varied in temporal predictability and instructions which varied in their demand for performance of a task. Several components of stress responding were examined. These included vigilant behavior (monitoring shock onset) and cognition (thinking about the stressor), physiological arousal, subjective anxiety, and task performance.
It was hypothesized that cognitively complex subjects would be more vigilant and perform consistently better on a cognitive task than cognitively simple subjects, regardless of the level of environmental stress. Analysis of complexity differences in physiological and subjective arousal were conducted for exploratory purposes.
The results obtained in this investigation indicated that integrative complexity theory (Schroder, Driver, & Streufert, 1967), as it currently exists, does not accurately predict the behavior of persons varying in cognitive complexity when they are placed in the stressful conditions employed here. For instance, although vigilant behavior and cognition were found to be related to complexity level, this relationship seemed to be dependent on the temporal predictability of the shock, the nature of the task being performed, and the instructions concerning the performance of the task. Complex subjects were observed to be more vigilant for information regarding shock onset than simple subjects under conditions where there was either a stress-relevant task or a heavy emphasis placed on performance of a stress-irrelevant task. However, cognitively simple subjects were more vigilant than complex subjects under conditions involving a temporally unpredictable shock and no task.
This relationship between complexity level, environmental conditions and vigilance appears to have been mediated by anxiety. Under conditions when complex subjects were more vigilant they tended to report greater subjective anxiety than simple subjects. Similarly, under conditions when simple subjects were more anxious than complex subjects they also engaged in more vigilant behavior and cognition. Physiological data revealed a tendency for complex subjects to have slightly higher levels of skin conductance than simple subjects. This result, along with the tendency for complex subjects to report higher recall during the second experiment, suggests greater attending behavior on the part of complex subjects.
With respect to the complexity-task performance hypothesis, there was only weak correlational support. It is suggested that this may have been due to the use of a median split rather than extreme groups procedure for selecting complex and simple subjects which weakened the results.
Overall, the results suggest that vigilance, as a strategy for coping with stress, should be analyzed from an information processing perspective. If the information available in particular environments can be specified, the reactions of cognitively complex and simple persons might be predicted, for their reactions appear to be mediated by anxiety. In other words, this investigation suggested that the sources of anxiety vary for complex and simple persons and, as a result, their coping responses are manifested differently. A reconceptualization of vigilance in terms of information processing styles in interaction with specific environmental stressors is discussed."
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MPACT Scores for Roma Harris A = 9
C = 3
A+C = 12
T = 13
G = 2
W = 9
TD = 11
TA = 2
calculated 2010-02-08 15:42:09
Advisors and Advisees Graph
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