Digit span as an anxiety indicator.

Abstract

The Digit Span subtest of the Wechsler-Bellevue Scale has been considered diagnostically helpful by clinicians as an indicator of the presence of anxiety [4,7,8]. A usual procedure is to note discrepancies between the Digit Span score and that of the total Verbal Scale. Rapaport uses Vocabulary level as a comparison measure; "A Digit Span score much below the vocabulary level ... is mainly indicative of the presence of anxiety" [7, p. 193],At the same time, however, the digit score is not considered adequate in itself to identify the clinical group, anxiety-neurotic, for two reasons: (a) other clinical groups do poorly on this subtest [1 ; 11, p. 84] and (b) some anxiety neurotics do not show this differential decrement [2, 9]. One explanation of discrepant findings may lie in the unreliability of diagnostic judgments of manifest anxiety, particularly since manifestly anxious individuals may show other kinds of symptoms also.In order to investigate the hypothesis that anxiety results in a greater decrement in Digit Span scores than in Vocabulary scores it would appear reasonable to attempt to manipulate anxiety in normal subjects in a controlled situation and thus determine its effects. ProcedureIntroductory psychology students served as subjects. All had been previously tested on the Full Scale Wechsler-Bellevue. They were selected from a group of eighty-four on the basis of their Digit Span scores not deviating more than two points from their verbal mean.Four groups of eight 5s each were matched according to Verbal IQ. The four groups were paper was presented at the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, April 27, 1951.

Waiting in the wings Apprehension, public speaking and performance

“…We observed significant performance decrements on two of our measures, digit span and verbal fluency, but no reliable effect on the remainder. The digit span decrement is consistent with the small and somewhat variable effect reported in the literature (Moldawsky and Moldawsky 1952, Basowitz et a[. 1955, Mueller 1979.…”

“…Deterioration of digit span under times of duress has often been noted (Moldawsky andMoldawsky 1952, Basowitz et al 1955). If .digit span impairment occurs through deterioration of working memory then effects might also be expected in logical reasoning.…”

Fear and performance in novice parachutists

“…Our results hence replicate the various observations of an effect of anxiety on span (e.g. Moldawsky andMoldawsky 1952, Idzikowski andBaddeley 1983 b).…”

“…Digit span was tested as it has been found to deteriorate with increasing levels of anxiety (Moldawsky and Moldawsky 1952, Basowitz et al 1955, although the reliability of this effect is still open to question (Mueller 1979). The digits were read out at a rate of one/s and the parachutists wrote down their responses.…”

Anxiety and memory

“…Two empirical studies have supported the notion that anxiety interferes with performance, and they require examination. Moldawsky and Moldawsky (1952) indicated to a group of subjects that there was something unusual (and by inference, something undesirable) in their past test performance. This induced anxiety resulted in decreased performance on the Digit Span measure.…”