Relationship of state-trait anxiety and type of practice to reading comprehension

The effects of state-trait anxiety and distribution of practice on reading comprehension were studied in male and female undergraduates of average aptitude. In Experiment 1 no significant differences were found on an 8-item test between 18 high and 18 low A-trait students who studied a reading passage with a 5-sec or 2-min intertrial interval. Experiment 2 employed a total of 60 students, a state-trait measure of anxiety, a 36-item test, ego-involving instructions, and 5-sec or 2-min intertrial intervals. The following significant (p less than .05) results were found: (a) high A-trait students responded to the ego-involving instructions with greater elevations in A-state; (b) low A-trait students demonstrated superior reading comprehension; (c) a low level of A-state immediately prior to the comprehension test produced a higher test score; (d) the A-state level of high A-trait students was reduced with the 2-min intertrial interval. Collectively, the results supported a trait-state conceptualization of anxiety.