Anxiety and learning / response behaviour in the context of intellectual problem solving by young children

Abstract

Twenty-eight grade four students were ca.tegorized as either high or low anxious subjects as per Gillis' Child Anxiety Scale (a self-report general measure). In determining impulsivity in their response tendencies, via Kagan's Ma.tching Familiar Figures Test, a significant difference between the two groups was not found to exist. Training procedures (verbal labelling plus rehearsal strategies) were introduced in modification of their learning behaviour on a visual sequential memory task. Significantly more reflective memory recall behaviour was noted by both groups as a result. Furthermore, transfer of the reflective quality of this learning strategy produced significantly less impulsive response behaviour for high and low anxious subjects with respect to response latency and for low anxious subjects with respect to response accuracy.