The effects of test anxiety on learning at superficial and deep levels of processing

The effect of test anxiety on learning superficial and deep level tasks was examined. Ninety college students classified as either high or low test-anxious learned a paired-associate word list using either a superficial level or a deep level processing strategy. The results indicated that on the superficial level processing task, the performance of the low test-anxious students was not significantly different from that of the high test-anxious students, while on the deep level processing task the performance of the low test-anxious students was significantly better than the performance of the high test-anxious students. The results are discussed in the context of a cognitive-attentional theory of test anxiety and the mechanisms by which test anxiety may disrupt performance.     

Arousal and cognition: The stimulation-seeking motive and structural effects in the comprehension of film

The authors present a study of comprehension as a function of the stimulation-seeking motive in relation to the degree of structure involved in information presented in film. While no significant effects were obtained in measuring comprehension of verbal and pictorial stimuli and literal and inferential processing, the stimulation-seeking motive may have had a moderating effect on the relationship among memory or information-processing systems. This would indicate possible differential-encoding or information-processing strategies between individuals high and low in the stimulation-seeking motive.