Participants

    Thirteen females from Introductory Psychology classes at Saint Anselm College participated in this study.  Participants were self-reported to be caffeine and nicotine free at the time they enrolled in the study and during the testing period.  This study followed the guidelines set forth by the American Psychological Association.  The Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Saint Anselm College has reviewed the research protocol and approval for conducting this study was granted on September 27, 2000.

Materials

    Cortisol Assay: Salivary samples were collected by having participants produce approximately 2 milliliters (ml.) of spit.  The saliva was stored in 50 ml. Falcon tubes and transfered to 2 ml. tubes for shipping on dry ice for analysis by Dr. Robert Bonsall, Emory University.  State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI): This is a 40 item questionnaire providing scores for both state and trait anxiety levels with established reliability and validity (Speilberger, 1983).  Object-Location Memory Task: This is a computerized version of a paper and pencil task (Silverman & Eals, 1992) measuring the ability to detect objects that have exchanged location with another object in an array of 27 objects created by Flannery and Eddy (2000). Self-Report Inventory for Current Stress Levels: Participants are asked to rate their current stress levels (0=not at all stressed by this activity/event; 10=extremely stressed by this activity/event). Visual PASAT:  This is a cognitive-noise stressor created using Superlab LT.  Participants add successive numbers aloud while listening to loud noises (e.g., construction noises, screaming, crying baby; approximately 90dB).

Procedure

    On day one, participants completed the STAI.  The experimenter then randomly assigned participants to either the stress or non-stress groups.  Individual appointments were scheduled over the next two-three weeks for completing the study protocol.
Baseline cortisol levels were obtained from all participants, prior to completing the stress group protocol or the non-stress group protocol.  For the stress group, the following sequence was followed twice:  exposed to stressor for five minutes, collect cortisol sample, complete object-location memory task, and collect cortisol sample.  For the non-stress group, the following sequence was followed twice: engage in non-stressful activity for five minutes (i.e., reading a magazine), collect cortisol sample, complete object-location memory task, and collect cortisol sample.  In total, five cortisol levels were obtained and two object location memory scores (i.e., baseline cortisol-1, post-stress cortisol-2, object-location memory score 1, post object-location memory cortisol-3, post-stress cortisol-4, object-location memory score 2, post object-location memory scores-5).  Upon completing the experiment, all participants filled out the Self-Report Stress Inventory.  In addition, all participants received course credit slips and they were fully debriefed regarding the specific aims and hypotheses set forth in this investigation.
 
 

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