Impact of the presence of a threat component as a de-automatization factor in writing

The available scientific data concerning a person's reaction to a negative emotional stimulus are contradictory. Some works describe the freezing reaction, while others describe the arousal reaction. The proposed research aims to resolve this contradiction. Examinee (n = 50) were shown negative emotional stimuli with and without a threat component, and then were asked to perform fairly simple and familiar motor actions - to draw a line with a tremometric pen across a curvilinear track without touching the track walls; to write down a phrase consisting of three words. Data on the response of various tremor indicators and the degree of automation during these tasks were analyzed using Student's t-test for dependent samples. Reactions to negative stimuli with and without a threat component were found to differ significantly according to tensotremorography data. In both cases, deautomatization occurred at levels C1 and E, but its degree differed. In conclusion, it is evident that the demonstration of a negative stimulus with a threat component causes a freezing reaction, without it - arousal, and also has a consequence of deautomatization of varying strength at the C1 and E levels.