A comparative study of working memory executive functions processing efficiency considering high and low levels of anxiety

The present research has been designed based on Attentional Control Theory (ACT). Anxiety leads to increased use of resources, and affects performance efficiency more than effectiveness. Participants consisted of a convenience sample of females with high and low levels of trait/state anxiety. A one-way analysis of variance yielded significant results for group, type of words and group*type of word interaction. These findings indicate a disruption in inhibitory and switching processing efficiency in the high anxiety group, and are in agreement with top-down processing biases of attention theory.