Anagram solution speed as a joint function of manifest anxiety and number of category sets

Anagrams constructed from words in 1,2,3, or 4 conceptual categories were administered in random sequences to subjects scoring at the extremes of the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale. Scince explicit instructions were given to the subjects concerning the nature of the categories involved, it is assumed that sets for responding with words from these categories were present from the start. The results demonstrate a negative relation of solution rate to number of category sets and an interaction of this variable with manifest anxiety. Anxiety facilitates performance in the presence of a single category set but inhibits performance when multiple sets are concurrently operative. The latter finding is consistent with the drive interpretation of manifest anxiety by Taylor and Spence.