Effects of Stress on Task Performance, Memory Capacity Weakens

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Major formulations of stress are presented (Cannon, 1932; Selye, 1951-1956) both to

clarify the nature of what has proved to be a familiar but vague construct, and also to provide

background to the theoretical context (see Koolhaas et al., 2013, for a review). In Chapter 1,

the interplay between stress and Working Memory (WM) is introduced where WM: (a)

represents a 'domain-free' or 'domain-general' ability to control attention, (b) is separable

from short-term memory (STM), and (c) is an important component of the cognitive

architecture most affected by stress (Schoofs, Preuss, & Wolf, 2008; and Wolf & Smeets,

2009).

Current immediate-memory theories (e.g., cognitive interference theories; see Eysenck,

Derakshan, Santos, & Calvo, 2007) are reviewed in the following chapters, chapters 2 and 3,

which represent a robust approach to stress and cognition. The main focus is on anxiety--a

form of stress (Mauricio, 2009)--within general populations rather than within anxious ones,

and there is an emphasis on individual difference characteristics in anxiety as a disposition or

trait, typically assessed by self-report scales of anxiety such as Spielberger's State-Trait

Anxiety Inventory.