The manifest anxiety scale as a measure of drive

Subjective science: Kenneth Spence's human learning research program

This article examines Kenneth Spence's human learning research from 1949 to 1967. His works show the conditioning field to be in turmoil over basic issues during this time. These issues included whether determinism should be accepted, how to interpret a psychological test score, what psychometric properties a test should have, and how to use theoretical constructs. Turmoil occurred because behaviors and events had different meanings and degrees of importance to different investigators. Thus, what appeared as "objective" scientific change in the conditioning field was really the adaptation of personal preferences in word meanings, research goals, and research methods. These issues also indicate disputes about definitions and purposes of scientific activity during Spence's era.

On the assessment of anxiety. IV. By measures of basal conductance and palmar sweat

This study investigated the extent to which subjective and autonomic measures of anxiety vary concomitantly over periods of weeks in the same individuals. Ss were 23 psychiatric patients in good contact. The subjective measures were a self-rating and an anxiety inventory, and the autonomic measures were basal conductance and palmar sweat. The results did not support the hypothesis of a positive relationship between the subjective and autonomic indices.