Table 1 below shows the results of a study that compared Stroop colour naming response times (RTs) between a group of war veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is a type of anxiety disorder, and a group of veterans without a diagnosis of PTSD, or any other anxiety disorder. The participants in the control group were matched to the PTSD group on age and gender. All participants completed two versions of the Stroop task. Version 1 was a standard Stroop task in which participants were asked to name the colour of the font in which colour-name words (e.g., RED, GREEN) were printed as quickly and as accurately as possible. Half of the colour-name words were printed in the same colour the word named (e.g., the word RED printed in red ink) and half were printed in a different colour from the named word (e.g., the word RED printed in green ink). Version 2 of the Stroop task was an emotional Stroop task in which participants were asked to name the colour of the font of printed words. Half of the words were combat-related (e.g., BOMB, WOUNDED, GRENADE, MINE, etc.). The other half of the words were neutral in valence, were not related to combat, and matched the combat words in length and frequency. Explain how the data in the table relate to the hypothesis that people who experience an anxiety disorder have an attentional bias towards threat-related stimuli. Note, although no inferential statistics are provided, you should describe the pattern of results in the descriptive statistics as being consistent or inconsistent with the hypothesis, and explain your reasoning with reference to the key comparisons between the conditions. Table 1 Mean Naming Response Times for Colour Words in the Standard and Emotional Stroop tasks for Veterans with PTSD and the Military Control Groups (RTs in Milliseconds).

Group Congruent Colour Word Incongruent Colour Word. Combat Word Neutral Word

Control Veterans 698 734 650 642

Veterans with PTSD 826 861 786 721