Outerdirectedness as a Function of State Anxiety and Experimentally Induced Success and Failure in the Educable Mentally Retarded

Examined with 95 educable mentally retarded male Ss (9-10.5 years old) was the relationship between anxiety and outerdirectedness. Ss were given the Test Anxiety Scale for Children (TASC) and a measure of outerdirectedness involving a puzzle task. Zero correlation was found between anxiety and outerdirectedness; and the same results were found after a failure condition was imposed and the TASC was repeated to test for a change in anxiety level. Ss tested in a failure condition completed the puzzle task faster than controls; however, anxiety increased significantly after the failure condition was received. (The bulk of the document consists of a research review with approximately 90 references; and appended material including drawings of the puzzle tasks, a copy of the TASC, and parent consent forms.) (IM)