ABSTRACT

Before proceeding, we wish to alert the reader to the obvious, namely, that anxiety, fear, and stress are not uniformly pathogenic negative emotional states. It

has been known for some time that moderate levels of anxiety, fear, and even stress are necessary for people to meet deadlines and to complete moderately difficult tasks efficiently and effectively (Yerkes & Dodson, 1908). Such emotional responses also serve important adaptive functions in that they mobilize humans to respond appropriately to real or impending threat or danger.