Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy

Table of Contents - 2007 - Volume 35, Issue 02  


Does Anticipation Help or Hinder Performance in a Subsequent Speech?

Mike Brown a1c1 and Lusia Stopa a1
a1 University of Southampton, UK

Article author query
brown m   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 
stopa l   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 

Abstract

This study examined the effects of anticipatory processing on a subsequent speech in high and low socially anxious participants. Forty participants (n = 20 in each group) gave two speeches, one after no anticipatory processing and one after 10-minutes of anticipatory processing. In anticipatory processing, high socially anxious participants were more anxious, and experienced more negative and unhelpful self-images than low socially anxious participants did. However, both groups rated memories of past speeches as having a somewhat helpful effect on their speech preparation. High socially anxious participants tended to use the observer perspective more in the anticipated speech, while, in the unanticipated speech, they might have been switching between observer and field perspectives. Low socially anxious participants tended to use the field perspective in both speeches. High and low socially anxious participants reported better speech performances after the anticipated, compared to after the unanticipated speech. Results suggest that anticipatory processing may have both positive and negative effects on socially anxious individuals' cognitive processing and performance before and during a speech.


Key Words: Anticipatory processing; social anxiety; performance; perspective-taking.

Correspondence:
c1 Reprint requests to Mike Brown, School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK. E-mail: mab202@soton.ac.uk

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