Communication anxiety and the acquisition of message‐production skill

Abstract

There is reason to believe that the interfering, off‐task thoughts that accompany anxiety may place anxious individuals at a disadvantage in the skill‐acquisition process. Previous research indicates that the course of skill acquisition is characterized by the power function P = BNα. This study sought to examine the relationship between state anxiety and three parameters defining individuals’ learning curves: α, the learning‐rate parameter; B, the γ‐intercept of the learning curve; and r², a measure of the fluctuations in performance quality from trial to trial. The results indicated that communication anxiety is associated with lower values ofα, higher B values, and lower r² values.

Keywords:

• anxiety
• cognitive interference
• learning rate
• power law
• practice
• skill