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Abstract:
Previous research shows that emotions can influence perception, but it is unclear whether changes in emotion also alter actions. In the current study we tested whether performance of a braking task (see Fajen, 2008) was altered when anxious. We hypothesized that anxiety would 1) lead to poor braking performance and 2) that changes in braking performance would be due to differences in the visual information that individuals utilized to guide braking.
Results indicated that when anxious the margin of error for
braking decreased, and that the size of the target may have
been used to control braking rather than more optimal visual
information (Fajen, 2008). Thus, individuals utilize visual information differently when anxious, which may lead to poorer performance of actions.
