Annotated Citation-Research Proposal

 

Hofmann, S.G., Moscovitch, D.A., Litz, B.T., Kim, H.J., Davis, L.L., & Pizzagalli, D.A. (2005). The worried mind: Autonomic and prefrontal activation during worrying. Emotion, 5, 464-475.

            This paper differentiates between anxiety and fear by monitoring heart rate, skin conductance, breathing rate, and brain activity during stressful and fear producing situations. The results of the study show that during situations producing anxiety, there is increased activity in the left frontal lobe of the brain suggesting verbal thoughts which is not seen in fear producing situations. Increased activity in the left frontal lobe is a key characteristic of generalized anxiety disorder. The paper concluded that worrying is not related to fear; rather it is its own unique state of emotion characterized by increased brain activity in the left frontal lobe.

             I chose this article because it distinguished between fear and anxiety, which I thought would be a good starting point for my proposal. I did find it very interesting because it clearly showed the differences in psychological and physiological processes. Also, it showed how fear and anxiety not only negatively affect the body, but they do it in two relatively different ways.

 

Barlow, D.H. (2000). Unraveling the mysteries of anxiety and its disorders from the perspective of emotion theory. American Psychologist, 55, 1247-1263.

 Suinn, R.M. (2001). The terrible twos-anger and anxiety: Hazardous to your health. American Psychologist, 56, 27-36.