Social anxiety, state dependence, and the next-in-line effect

Results indicate that preperformance memory deficits are not deficits in state-dependent retrieval; rather, they suggest that pre performance anxiety disrupts the encoding of ongoing events.

Abstract

Abstract People experience anxiety prior to a public performance. Later, they cannot recall what happened when they were next-in-line to perform. In the current article, we examine the contribution of affect to next-in-line memory deficits. We find that next-in-line deficits are suffered by subjects who report high, but not low social anxiety, and we assess two explanations for the next-in-line effect. According to one explanation, the effect is a deficit in state-dependent retrieval: according to the second explanation, the effect is a state-induced encoding deficiency. Results indicate that preperformance memory deficits are not deficits in state-dependent retrieval; rather, they suggest that preperformance anxiety disrupts the encoding of ongoing events.