Effects of test anxiety on performance,worry, and emotionality in naturally occurring exams

Test performance and reported anxiety levels of high and low test-anxious subjects taking either a regular exam or an exam containing brief, written relaxation instructions were compared. A consistent main effect for test anxiety was found; high test-anxious subjects performed more poorly and reported greater worry and emotionality than did low test-anxious subjects. Effects for the relaxation manipulation were found only on the second of three exams where the high anxious subjects receiving the relaxation exam format reported less worry than the high anxiety-regular exam group. Results provide greater external validity for the Test Anxiety Scale (TAS).     

Social and dimensional comparisons in math and verbal test anxiety: Within- and cross-domain relations with achievement and the mediating role of academic self-concept

The present study builds on two strands of research: (1) the recently established generalized internal/external frame of reference (GI/E) model assuming social (comparing one’s achievement in one domain with the achievement of one’s peers in the same domain) and dimensional (comparing one’s achievement in one domain with one’s achievement in another domain) comparison processes in the formation of motivational constructs and self-perceptions, and (2) research on domain-specific facets of test anxiety. Using a sample of 5135 German seventh grade students, it is tested whether and how both comparison processes are involved in the formation of domain-specific facets of test anxiety when considering both the emotionality and worry components of test anxiety, and whether the relation between achievement and test anxiety is mediated through academic self-concept. When applying the GI/E model to test anxiety, the results showed negative relations between achievement and test anxiety within math and verbal (German) domains, but partially positive relations across domains. This pattern of relations emerged for both the worry and emotionality components while stronger achievement relations were found for worry. These findings indicate that dimensional achievement comparison processes operate in the formation of domain-specific test anxiety. Domain-specific academic self-concepts were found to mediate the relations between achievement and test anxiety within and across domains, the mediation being stronger for worry than for emotionality as an outcome. Boys and girls did not differ regarding direct and indirect relations among constructs. Implications for research on dimensional comparison processes and test anxiety are discussed.     

Gender-related worry and emotionality test anxiety for high-achieving students

Test anxiety among academically talented high school students (N = 103) was explored in this study. Two components of test anxiety were assessed: a cognitive component (worry) and a physiological component (emotionality). The results indicated that these students suffered from test anxiety, and that higher anxiety was related to lower science performance. Overall, females reported more test anxiety than did males. Whereas females experienced higher worry than emotionality, males reported little difference between the two anxiety components. Implications for college-bound students are discussed. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Test anxiety and learned helplessness is moderated by student perceptions of teacher motivational support

The aim of the present study was to examine the interplay between test anxiety (i.e. worry and emotionality) and learned helplessness in a sample of adolescents (N = 845, aged 13–17 years) in secondary schools in Germany. In accordance with the buffering hypothesis, it was hypothesised that the detrimental association between both components of text anxiety and helplessness in school would be buffered by students’ perception of their teachers as positive motivators (TPM). TPM refers to student motivation within the academic context, which results from their perception of teacher support. Interesting differences between the two components of test anxiety were identified: emotionality was positively associated with helplessness in school, whereas worry was negatively associated. Using latent moderated structural equations (LMS), the findings revealed that TPM functions as a moderator in the interplay between emotionality and learned helplessness. Despite these results, TPM did not operate as a buffer between emotionality and learned helplessness since helplessness in school was the highest when students perceived some degree of TPM. These findings make a case for implementing specific psychological interventions within the school context in order to prevent helplessness in school.     

Validating the proposed structure of the relationships among test anxiety and its predictors based on control-value theory: evidence for gender-specific patterns

Control-value theory (CVT) proposes a framework for the structure of the relationships between the various predictors of achievement-related emotions, particularly anxiety. Despite existing evidence for the role of anxiety predictors, research has not yet justified their proposed structure. Hence, the current study validated the structure of test anxiety (TA) predictors as proposed by CVT. A sample of German adolescent students (N = 845) completed questionnaires that measured their school-related self-efficacy, test-related cognitions (expected grades and their perceived relevance) and the two major facets of TA: worry and emotionality. Multi-group structural equation modelling was used to test for gender differences in the interplay of the variables. Findings supported the assumptions of CVT for girls and boys, in that the proposed structure of relationships among the various predictors of TA was largely equivalent for both genders. However, emotionality was not related to subjective relevance for boys. Implications for further research on predictors of anxiety and its application to the school context are discussed.     

Search time and test anxiety in a visual location task

This study was conducted to investigate whether increasing search time in a visual location task would result in significantly different relationships between worry/emotionality test anxiety component scores and performance. Fifty graduate students were given 3.5 or 8 s to locate seven embedded geometrical figures projected on a screen. Correlation coefficients (anxiety component scores X performance scores) for the two treatment groups were significantly different for the emotionality component, r = ? .73 (3.5 s), r = ? .06 (8 s), z(r) = 2.8, p < .01; but not for the worry component, r = ? .61 (3.5 s), r = ? .26 (8 s). Recommendations include further study utilizing actual classroom situations and commercial instructional materials. Tentative recommendations for the production and utilization of instructional materials are provided.     

Cognitive Test Anxiety and Academic Performance

A new measure that focused explicitly on the cognitive dimension of test anxiety was introduced and examined for psychometric quality as compared to existing measures of test anxiety. The new scale was found to be a reliable and valid measure of cognitive test anxiety. The impact of cognitive test anxiety as well as emotionality and test procrastination were subsequently evaluated on three course exams and students' self-reported performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test for 168 undergraduate students. Higher levels of cognitive test anxiety were associated with significantly lower test scores on each of the three course examinations. High levels of cognitive test anxiety also were associated with significantly lower Scholastic Aptitude Test scores. Procrastination, in contrast, was related to performance only on the course final examination. Gender differences in cognitive test anxiety were documented, but those differences were not related to performance on the course exams. Examination of the relation between the emotionality component of test anxiety and performance revealed that moderate levels of physiological arousal generally were associated with higher exam performance. The results were consistent with cognitive appraisal and information processing models of test anxiety and support the conclusion that cognitive test anxiety exerts a significant stable and negative impact on academic performance measures.     

How accurate are teacher and parent judgements of lower secondary school children’s test anxiety?

This study examined teacher and mother judgement accuracy of children’s worries and emotionality in the school subjects of German and mathematics. The participants were 59 German language and 58 mathematics teachers, 572 mothers and their children at the end of Grade 6. The analyses for the total sample revealed weak-to-moderate correlations between adult’s and children’s perception of test anxiety. Moreover, we found that teachers overestimated children’s emotionality as well as children’s worry, whereas mothers underestimated children’s worry and overestimated children’s emotionality in both subjects. However, when looking at the highly test-anxious children, we found quite low correlations and an underestimation of children’s worry and emotionality in both school subjects. Thus, it seems important to provide teachers and parents with information about test anxiety and possibly training to improve their judgement accuracy because of moderating effects of test anxiety on achievement.     

The role of perceived parental over-involvement in student test anxiety

The effects of perceived parental over-involvement on students’ level of test anxiety were examined in two studies. In study 1, parental over-involvement scale was developed. The sample comprised 105 male and female undergraduate college students between the ages of 21 and 26. The scale contained two aspects of parental over-involvement: parental attitudes toward academic studies and parental involvement in academic studies. Students’ self-reported attitudes toward academic studies were also included. In study 2, the effects of the three aspects on students’ level of test anxiety were examined. The sample comprised 90 male and female undergraduate college students, between the ages of 21 and 26. Research hypotheses were that the two aspects of parental over-involvement and students’ attitudes will positively correlate with students' test anxiety and that results will persist with high anxious students. Finally, an exploratory question was examined as to whether the two aspects of parental over-involvement will differ in their impact on test anxiety. As expected all three factors positively correlated with test anxiety; however, regression analysis indicated that only parental involvement was predicting text anxiety. Results for participants with high test anxiety partially supported research hypothesis as parental involvement correlated with test anxiety (TA) total score and with worry but not with emotionality. Findings are discussed as response to the exploratory question. Finally, although not hypothesized, academic education of parents was positively related to students' test anxiety. Results suggest that parental attitudes and behaviors are significant factors in college students’ TA.     

中学生考试焦虑与成就目标、学习策略及学业成绩的关系

问卷调查与研究显示:中学生的考试焦虑在性别、年级和学校类型上均无显著性差异,且普遍存在中度以上焦虑;重度考试焦虑对学业成绩有显著削弱作用;学生的成就目标定向和自我调节学习策略对其考试焦虑的干预具有重要意义。     

An examination of the self-referent executive processing model of test anxiety: control,emotional regulation,self-handicapping,and examination performance

According to the self-referent executive processing (S-REF) model, test anxiety develops from interactions between three systems: executive self-regulation processes, self-beliefs, and maladaptive situational interactions. Studies have tended to examine one system at a time, often in conjunction with how test anxiety relates to achievement outcomes. The aim of this study was to enable a more thorough test of the S-REF model by examining one key construct from each of these systems simultaneously. These were control (a self-belief construct), emotional regulation through suppression and reappraisal (an executive process), and self-handicapping (a maladaptive situational interaction). Relations were examined from control, emotional regulation, and self-handicapping to cognitive test anxiety (worry), and subsequent examination performance on a high-stakes test. Data were collected from 273 participants in their final year of secondary education. A structural equation model showed that higher control was indirectly related to better examination performance through lower worry, higher reappraisal was indirectly related to worse examination performance through higher worry, and higher self-handicapping was related to worse examination performance through lower control and higher worry. These findings suggest that increasing control and reducing self-handicapping would be key foci for test anxiety interventions to incorporate.

     

大学生就业焦虑与父母教养方式、自我概念之关系

在对286名大学生进行问卷调查的基础上,采用独立样本t检验、相关分析和结构方程模型等方法,探讨大学生就业焦虑的基本状况及其与父母教养方式、自我概念间的关系.结果表明：大学生就业焦虑在性别和是否独生子女上没有显著差异;父母教养方式对大学生就业焦虑不存在直接影响,而是以自我概念为中介产生间接影响.父母教养方式和自我概念对就业前景担忧和自信心不足2个因子的影响高于对缺乏就业支持和就业竞争压力2个因子的影响.     

The influence of cognitive test anxiety across the learning–testing cycle

This study tested the hypothesized negative impact of cognitive test anxiety in the test preparation, performance, and reflection phases. Data available from the participants (n = 124) included test anxiety, study skills, perceived threat of tests, and performance attributions. Preparation phase data revealed, compared to their counterparts, that students with high-cognitive test anxiety reported lower study skills (d = 0.83), rated tests as more threatening (d = 1.18), and prepared less effective test notes. Performance phase effects revealed that the high-anxiety group performed worse on tests (d = 0.96) and reported higher levels of emotionality (d = 1.42). Test reflection phase reports demonstrated a relationship between cognitive test anxiety and helplessness attributions. The results are interpreted through a process model, proposing that cognitive test anxiety is associated with detrimental perceptions and behaviors in all phases of the learning–testing cycle.     

“Too complex for me!” Why do performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals predict exam performance?

Classroom research on achievement goals has revealed that performance-approach goals (goals to outperform others) positively predict exam performance whereas performance-avoidance goals (goals not to perform more poorly than others) negatively predict it. Because prior classroom research has primarily utilized multiple-choice exam performance, the first aim of the present study was to extend these findings to a different measure of exam performance (oral examination). The second aim of this research was to test the mediating role of perceived difficulty. Participants were 49 4th year psychology students of the University of Geneva. Participants answered a questionnaire assessing their level of performance-approach and performance-avoidance goal endorsement in one of their classes as well as the perceived difficulty of this class for themselves. Results indicated that performance-approach goals significantly and positively predicted exam grades. Performance-avoidance goals significantly and negatively predicted grades. Both of these relationships were mediated by the perceived difficulty of the class for oneself. Thus, the links previously observed between performance goals and exam performance were replicated on an oral exam. Perceived difficulty is discussed as a key dimension responsible for these findings.     

Positive reframing and the test performance of test anxious children

The present study tested whether the paradoxical technique of positive reframing, presented in the form of test instructions, could be used to reduce the cognitive experience of worry and thereby improve the arithmetic test performance of highly test anxious third-and fourth-grade children. Thirty high test anxious and thirty low test anxious children were assigned randomly to receive one of three types of instructions prior to taking an arithmetic word problem test: neutral instructions, reassuring instructions, and positive-reframing instructions, which encouraged the children to view worry as a positive attribute. The results indicated that the type of instructions given had no significant effect upon subsequent test performance. However, both high and low test anxious children who received positive reframing scored significantly higher on a state anxiety measure given post test. These findings suggest that, although positive reframing may have an emotional impact, it is ineffective in improving the arithmetic test performance of highly test anxious children.     

Ethnicity,Effort, Self-Efficacy,Worry, and Statistics Achievement in Malaysia: A Construct Validation of the State-Trait Motivation Model

The relations between motivational constructs, effort, self-efficacy and worry, and statistics achievement were investigated in a sample of 360 undergraduates in Malaysia. Both trait (cross-situational) and state (task-specific) measures of each construct were used to test a mediational trait (r) state (r) performance (TSP) model. As hypothesized, all three traits were found to be empirically distinguishable from their state counterparts in a confirmatory factor analysis. In a structural equation model, each trait also had a direct effect on its corresponding state as hypothesized. Most importantly, state worry and state effort had significant direct effects on statistics achievement in the predicted direction. Gender and ethnic (Malay vs. Chinese) differences and other predictions related to social cognitive theories of motivation also were analyzed and are discussed. Overall, results provide strong evidence for the utility of the state-trait distinction as applied to motivational constructs and are consistent with findings from U.S. samples.     

The effect of a story-based cognitive behavior modification procedure on reducing children's test anxiety before and after cancellation of an important examination

This study was originally planned to examine the effects of a story-based cognitive behavior modification procedure specifically designed to help the fifth grade elementary school students to manage their anxiety before they attend a nation-wide secondary school entrance examination. The examination was cancelled after the children attended. This naturally occurred treatment was included in the study and the effect of the cancellation on the maintenance of the treatment outcome was also investigated. Twenty subjects (10 girls, 10 boys) were selected out of a total of 144 fifth grade children who would attend the exam, on the basis of the Turkish version of Test Anxiety Inventory and, assigned to treatment and control groups. The results showed that the story based cognitive behavior modification procedure was more effective than no treatment in reducing the subjects' test anxiety and the effect was maintained after cancellation of the first and three days prior to the second examination. The results also demonstrated that the effectiveness of the procedure was superior in modifying the emotionality component of test anxiety and this effectiveness continued after the cancellation of the examination.     

The Efficacy of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy Technique in the Treatment of Test Anxiety of College Students

This study explored the efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) in the treatment of test anxiety. Thirty‐five college students with test anxiety were randomly assigned to either a treatment or delayed treatment control group. In this study, EMDR was shown to be effective in reducing overall test anxiety as well as “emotionality” and “worry” components of test anxiety.     

Deconstructing test anxiety

Recent changes to educational policy which have focused attention on the use of high stakes testing as performance and accountability measures have renewed interest in test anxiety both in the UK and the USA. The aim of this paper is to provide a critical examination of the test anxiety construct, and explore the ways in which test anxiety is written about and conceptualised in the existing literature. It is intended that this paper would provide a companion to the comprehensive reviews that already exist, to provoke scholarly thought and debate around the existing literature, than to provide an additional review. Discussion is based around five themes: (1) how test anxiety is differentiated from the anxiety construct in general; (2) the differing conceptions of test anxiety in the literature; (3) the relationship between test anxiety and other, related constructs; (4) how measurement concerns have driven development of the test anxiety construct; and (5) the focus on worry and performance deficits leading to definitional problems. Two directions for future work are highlighted: first, to continue the exploration of test anxiety with other related constructs; and second, to develop qualitative approaches to the study of test anxiety.     

Self-efficacy beliefs and the writing performance of entering high school students

Path analysis was used to test the influence of writing self-efficacy, writing apprehension, and writing aptitude on the essay-writing performance of 181 ninth-grade students. A model that also included gender accounted for 53% of the variance in performance. As hypothesized, both aptitude and students' self-efficacy beliefs had strong direct effects on performance. Aptitude also had a strong direct effect on self-efficacy, which largely mediated the indirect effect of aptitude on performance. Self-efficacy had a strong direct effect on apprehension, which, in turn, had a modest effect on performance. Girls and boys did not differ in aptitude or performance, but girls reported lower writing self-efficacy. Native English-speaking Hispanic students had lower aptitude and performance scores, lower self-efficacy, and higher apprehension. Results support the hypothesized role of self-efficacy in Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.