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The relative contributions of covert reinforcement and cognitive restructuring to test anxiety reduction
Author(s) -
Bistline John L.,
Jaremko Matt E.,
Sobleman Steven
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(198007)36:3<723::aid-jclp2270360320>3.0.co;2-#
Subject(s) - covert , cognitive restructuring , restructuring , psychology , coping (psychology) , anxiety , cognition , reinforcement , feeling , social psychology , cognitive psychology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , philosophy , linguistics , finance , economics
Tested the relative contributions of two possibly active test anxiety treatment components, covert reinforcement (response relevant) and cognitive restructuring. Thirty‐nine S s were assigned to a covert modeling group, a cognitive restructuring group, a combination group, or a waiting list control group. The covert modeling consisted of imagining (a) the feared situations; (b) handling the stress in a coping manner; and (c) feeling good for having coped. The cognitive restructuring group's scenes consisted of imagining (a) the feared situation; (b) saying a negative self‐statement; and (c) replacing it with a positive coping statement. Results showed that the covert modeling group was somewhat more improved than the cognitive restructuring group. This result is interpreted as evidence that cognitive restructuring may work by the mechanisms of covert rehearsal and response relevant covert positive reinforcement. Further research directions are suggested.