Moderate state-anxiety differently modulates visual and auditory response times in normal- and very low trait-anxiety subjects

Because relationships between mood states, personality and motor performances remain ambiguous, we investigated in very low trait-anxiety (VLTA) and normal trait-anxiety (NTA) subjects, the effects of moderate state-anxiety, tension and fatigue induced by the video-recorded Stroop Color-Word Interference Test on reaction time and movement time in visual and auditory tasks. Our results show that visual response time performances were improved in NTA subjects, while auditory response time performances were improved in VLTA subjects. In both groups improvement of performance, occurred at the reaction time and movement time level. Our results show that allocation of attentional resources can be modulated by personality traits, such as trait-anxiety, and furthermore highlight personality and individual differences as regards to the human/environment interaction. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.