Effect of extrinsic incentives on use of test anxiety as an anticipatory attributional defense: Playing it cool when the stakes are high.

Assessed the effect of extrinsic incentives on the use of test anxiety as a self-handicapping strategy. It was hypothesized that although reports of anxiety may be greater when such symptoms can serve a defensive function, this effect occurs only when extrinsic incentives are low and not under conditions of high extrinsic incentive. 84 male undergraduates anticipated taking a test of intellectual abilities and either were led to believe that test anxiety has no effect on test performance or were given no particular information about the relation between test anxiety and performance. Ss were offered either $5 or $25 for obtaining the highest score on the test. Consistent with predictions, no-information Ss reported greater test anxiety before the test than did those who believed that test anxiety was unrelated to performance, but only when the extrinsic incentive for performance was low. However, these Ss did not report greater cognitive interference or exhibit lower test scores than did Ss in other conditions. It is suggested that the defensive strategy used by these Ss consisted of altering perceptions of anxiety, rather than anxiety itself. Implications of the absence of self-handicapping under high incentive conditions are discussed. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships of cognitive components of test anxiety to test performance: Implications for assessment and treatment.

Assessed the degree to which components of test-taking strategies, covert self-statements, and subjective anxiety during an exam provide increments in prediction of test performance over characteristics of ability and gender. Compared to previous research, the study assessed the effectiveness of any test-taking strategies employed on specific questions during an exam in order to directly evaluate the relationship of this problem-solving skill to test performance. 72 college students differing in dispositional test anxiety and college experience studied for and then completed several simulated classroom tests. Test-taking strategies were assessed with the Test Tactics Probe; the Covert Thought Questionnaire was developed to assess self-statements; and subjective anxiety was measured with the Subjective Units of Disturbance Scale. Only test-taking strategies provided a significant increment to multiple-choice and essay test performance but not math test score. Components reflecting internal dialog were more strongly related to each other than to performance, suggesting that these factors may be indirectly related to performance decrements. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive modification of test anxious college students.

Assigned 15 male and 6 female test anxious 17-25 yr. olds (1 high school student and 20 undergraduates) to a group cognitive modification treatment, group desensitization, or a waiting list control group. The cognitive modification group combined an insight-oriented therapy which was designed to make test anxious Ss aware of their anxiety-engendering thoughts with a modified desensitization procedure which employed (a) coping imagery on how to handle anxiety and (b) self-instructional training to attend to the task and not ruminate about oneself. Results indicate that the cognitive modification group was most effective in significantly reducing test anxiety as assessed by (a) test performance obtained in an analog test situation, (b) self-reports given immediately after posttreatment and later at a 1-mo follow-up, and (c) GPA. Following treatment, the test anxious Ss in the cognitive modification group did not differ from a group of 10 low test anxious Ss, and in fact the cognitive modification Ss reported a significant increase in facilitative anxiety. (63 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Roles of attribution, affect, and cognitive interference in test anxiety.

Examined the impact of performance outcome, task difficulty, and level of test anxiety on attributional accounts for performance and achievement-related affect. 83 undergraduates who had scored high or low on the Test Anxiety Scale worked on tasks of varying difficulty, evaluated their own performance, and then responded to 2 types of attribution items: the brief version of the Differential Emotions Scale and the Cognitive Interference Questionnaire. Meaningful attributional accounts were uncovered; in particular, performance outcome and task difficulty had independent effects on Ss' attributional judgments. Cognitive interference was implicated as a factor contributing to the attributional predispositions of Ss differing in test anxiety, and it was a major determinant of affective reactions. In addition, Ss' affective responses were predictably associated with their perceived performance outcome, level of test anxiety, difficulty of the task, and attributional accounts of the factors influencing their performance. Results are discussed in terms of the cognitive components and phenomenological experience of test anxiety and the consequent impact anxiety may have on achievement-related behavior. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognition, anxiety, and prediction of performance in 1st-year law students.

Two models to predict academic performance using ability, affective, and cognitive variables were evaluated using students in their 1st year of law school. Participants were assessed before the beginning of classes and prior to and immediately following 2 anxiety-arousing 1st-year academic milestones: a final exam and an oral argument. In the path analysis for the exam model, only the Law School Aptitude Test was predictive of performance. Trait anxiety predicted self-efficacy for cognitive control, which predicted thoughts, which in turn predicted state anxiety. State anxiety, however, did not predict exam grades. In the oral argument model, a clear path of significant predictors could be traced from communication apprehension to self-efficacy for affective control, to state anxiety, and finally to oral argument score. Thus, different processes appear to operate in each of the 2 academic tasks. The implications of the results for law school education and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitions of test-anxious children under naturalistic test-taking conditions.

Investigated the cognitions of 115 low, 126 moderate, and 125 high test-anxious 5th and 6th graders under naturalistic test-taking conditions. 57% of the Ss were female, 88% were White, and 61% were upper middle class. The Ss were classified according to scores on the Test Anxiety Scale for Children. As predicted, high test-anxious Ss showed more task-debilitating cognitions during testing, including more negative self-evaluations and off-task thoughts and fewer positive self-evaluations. High test-anxious Ss also showed relatively high frequencies of on-task thoughts and coping self-statements. The study also examined the role of classroom environment in the test anxiety-performance relation. Relative to their peers, the performance of high test-anxious Ss was debilitated only in classrooms that were high in perceived evaluative threat. Moreover, significant relations between cognitions and mathematic performance were obtained only in high-threat classrooms, and these relations were maintained when the effects of mathematic ability were statistically controlled. It is suggested that future test-anxiety research and clinical intervention might view test anxiety within a broader theoretical context of person-environment fit. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Test anxiety and ineffective test taking: Different names, same construct?

Investigated the relative contributions of test anxiety and exam-taking skills to information-processing deficits in a dual-task paradigm. Under stress instructions, 64 high- and low-test-anxious college students with either good or poor exam-taking skills alternately performed a primary task (Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices) separately and concurrently with a secondary task (a backward digit span test). Results indicate that exam-skilled, high-anxious Ss performed comparably with skilled, low-anxious peers on the primary Raven task, yet significantly worse on the concurrent backward digit span task. Conversely, high-anxious, unskilled Ss were exceeded by low-anxious, unskilled peers on both tasks. Findings suggest that test anxiety and exam-taking ability independently influence cognitive problem solving in the evaluative setting. It is suggested that although good exam skills can compensate for anxiety-induced deficits in working-memory capacity by refocusing attention toward the task, processing deficits still emerge as task demands increase. Measures of state anxiety and cognitive interference further suggest that a negative internal focus, not arousal, underlies such deficits. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive mediation in general psychiatric outpatients: A test of the content-specificity hypothesis.

We investigated the degree of content specificity evident in the negative cognitions associated with anxiety and depression in two large samples of general psychiatric outpatients. Standardized measures of affect and cognition were analyzed in a multiple regression design. As predicted by A. T. Beck's (see PA, Vol 76:11913; see also 1967 and 1976) cognitive theory of psychopathology, thoughts of loss and failure were specifically associated with depression, whereas cognitions of harm and danger were uniquely predictive of anxiety. In addition, hopelessness was specific to depression and not to anxiety. Dysfunctional beliefs showed no consistent association with either mood state. The implication of these results, as well as related findings, is discussed in terms of a cognitive perspective on the differentiation of emotional disorders. Also discussed are the methodological difficulties encountered in research on cognitive-affective relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An additive model of test anxiety: Role of exam-specific expectations.

The study tested a hypothesis whereby anxiety concerning examinations covering different subjects is an additive function of dispositional test anxiety and the anticipated results of individual tests. This hypothesis was generated on the basis of the integration of test anxiety theory and appraisal models of emotion. The study involved 118 students who took 3 examinations during the course of a Scholastic Aptitude Test preparation class, namely Quantitative, Verbal, and English (as a foreign language). Results with a repeated-measures design indicated that expected success, measured with self-efficacy for grade attainment 3 days before each test, incrementally predicted anxiety level during the test (i.e., beyond the prediction offered by test anxiety [trait], general efficacy [trait], and self-efficacy ratings for the previous exam). The same results were obtained when anxiety level was residualized on the basis of anxiety level associated either with the previous exam or with the Quantitative exam. These data indicate that anxiety level associated with different exams is an incremental function of dispositional and situational factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The interaction model of anxiety: An empirical test in an examination situation.

Tested the interaction model of anxiety in an examination situation. 56 undergraduates completed the self-report Behavioral Reactions Questionnaire (BRQ), a measure of A-state, and measured their pulse rates prior to an important psychology exam. Under nonstressful conditions 2 wks later, Ss again completed the BRQ and measured their pulse rate. In addition they completed the S–R Inventory of General Trait Anxiousness (S–R GTA), a measure of A-trait. The differential hypothesis of the interaction model of anxiety predicted a significant interaction between interpersonal (ego-threatening) A-trait (high vs low) and the ego-threatening situation (exam), in affecting A-state arousal, but no significant interaction between the other facets of A-trait (physical danger, ambiguous, and innocuous) and the threatening exam situation. When pulse rate was used as the dependent variable, the congruent Interpersonal A-Trait?×?ego-stress exam situation interaction was significant. None of the remaining 6 noncongruent person-by-situation interactions was significant except for the Physical Danger A-Trait?×?Situation interaction for BRQ scores. The pulse rates results confirmed the differential predictions of the interaction model of anxiety. Ss responded differentially to the 4 situations of the GTA, and in general the results provide confirmation for the multidimensionality of A-trait. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping humour, stress, and cognitive appraisals.

Investigated relationships between sense of humor and cognitive appraisals (CAs) and reappraisals of a potentially stressful event. CAs by 44 female university students for an academic examination were obtained at several points in time. Ss with high scores on the Coping Humor scale by R. A. Martin and H. M. Lefcourt (see record 1984-15058-001) appraised the exam as more of a positive challenge. In their reappraisals, high humor Ss' ratings of importance and positive challenge were positively related to performance on the exam, whereas for low humor Ss this relationship was negative. High humor Ss adjusted their expectations on the next exam on the basis of performance on the previous exam, whereas low humor Ss did not. Sense of humor was negatively related to both perceived stress and dysfunctional standards for self-evaluation. Results support the proposal that a sense of humor may facilitate coping and adjustment. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitions of test-anxious children.

Compared the cognitions of 294 low, moderate, and high test-anxious (the Test Anxiety Scale for Children) 5th and 6th graders in an analog test situation. High test-anxious Ss reported significantly more task-debilitating cognitions than either moderate- or low-anxious Ss, including negative evaluations and off-task thoughts. High test-anxious Ss also reported fewer positive evaluations than low test-anxious Ss, whereas moderately anxious Ss did not differ significantly from either extreme group. It was unexpected that the moderate- and high-anxious groups reported significantly more on-task thoughts than the low-anxious group and did not significantly differ from each other. Both test anxiety and cognitions showed significant although modest relations with actual task performance after the effects of ability were partialled out. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Achievement goals, study strategies, and exam performance: A mediational analysis.

Two studies examined achievement goals as predictors of self-reported cognitive/metacognitive and motivational study strategies and tested these study strategies as mediators of the relationship between achievement goals and exam performance in the normatively graded college classroom. The results support hypotheses generated from the trichotomous achievement goal framework. Mastery goals are positive predictors of deep processing, persistence, and effort; performance-approach goals are positive predictors of surface processing, persistence, effort, and exam performance; and performance-avoidance goals are positive predictors of surface processing and disorganization and negative predictors of deep processing and exam performance. Persistence and effort mediate the relationship between performance-approach goals and exam performance, whereas disorganization mediates the relationship between performance-avoidance goals and exam performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of modifying cognitive versus emotionality responses in the treatment of test anxiety.

Attempted to test the differential effects of treating the cognitive and emotionality response components of test anxiety specified by R. M. Liebert and L. W. Morris (see record 1967-13649-001). 48 test-anxious college students were assigned randomly to one of 4 groups: an attentional treatment, in which attention to task-relevant cues was reinforced; a relaxation treatment, in which relaxation responses were reinforced; a combined attentional-relaxation treatment; and a waiting-list control group. All Ss were administered the Alpert-Haber Achievement Anxiety Test, the Emotionality and Worry Scales of Liebert and Morris, the Wonderlic Personnel Test, and a digit symbols test in a group setting before and after treatment. Although significant treatment effects were found on 3 of 4 self-report measures, the results fail to support the specific predictions that emotionality-focused treatments would reduce scores on measures of debilitating anxiety and emotionality without affecting scores on worry and that cognition-focused treatments would reduce scores on measures of debilitating anxiety and worry without affecting scores on emotionality. In addition, significant performance changes were not obtained by any group. An alternate theory of test anxiety appears to account more adequately for the results. Questions are raised regarding the constancy of the relationship between test anxiety and performance. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is the dopamine sensitive adenylate cyclase in the rat substantia nigra coupled with ''autoreceptors''?

The Depression Adjective Check List, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and a battery of factor analytically derived cognitive tests sensitive to anxiety or depression were administered to 50 women between the ages of 30 and 45 during the 4 days prior to the onset of menstruation and again 2 weeks later. Testing sessions were scheduled on the basis of a previously completed Menstrual Distress Questionnaire. There were significant increases in anxiety and depression during the premenstruum. However, no statistically significant differences were found in cognitive test performance, and correlation data failed to support any consistent relationship between premenstrual mood and cognitive function. Moreover, no significant correlations were found between premenstrual complaints on the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire and either cognitive test performance or mood scores obtained during the premenstrual testing sessions. It was concluded that the magnitude of the premenstrual mood change was not great enough to affect intellectual function. Alternative explanations of the absence of decrements in performance are discussed.     

Causal attribution, cognitive interference, and the generalization of learned helplessness.

We assessed the role of off-task cognitions in mediating the performance effects of global and specific attributions for failure. In Experiment 1, subjects were divided into global and specific attributors and were exposed to either no feedback or failure feedback. In Experiment 2, subjects were exposed to no feedback or to unsolvable problems wherein they received attribution for failure to specific or global causes. Experiment 3 added a condition in which subjects were restrained from engaging in off-task cognitions. Results showed that exposure to unsolvable problems deteriorated performance and increased off-task cognitions mainly among subjects who attributed failure to global causes. In addition, the enhancement of off-task cognitions interfered with performance following unsolvable problems. The introduction of instructions that discouraged subjects from engaging in off-task cognitions eliminated the detrimental effects of global attribution. Results are discussed in terms of test anxiety and excuse-making conceptualizations of learned helplessness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integration of positive and negative affectivity and cognitive content-specificity: Improved discrimination of anxious and depressive symptoms.

In a sample of 159 psychiatric outpatient adults, negative affectivity (NA) was significantly correlated with a broad range of anxiety and depressive symptoms and was not useful for the differentiation of anxiety from depression. Low positive affectivity (PA) was significantly related only to depressive symptoms. Whereas depressive cognitions demonstrated discriminant capability, anxiety cognitions (in isolation) demonstrated nonspecificity. A combination of NA and anxious cognitions significantly predicted anxiety symptoms, better than did cognitions or affect alone. NA, depressive cognitions, and low PA significantly predicted depressive symptoms. Results support the integration of affective and cognitive models for the discrimination of anxious from depressive symptoms and have implications for measure development. Modifications in the cognitive content-specificity theory of anxiety states are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive processes in mathematics anxiety and test anxiety: The role of appraisals, internal dialogue, and attributions.

In this study, I explored the functional similarities and differences in the cognitive processes involved in mathematics anxiety and test anxiety. Ninety-six students in an undergraduate psychology statistics course completed test and math anxiety measures shortly after the commencement of their course. Before and after each of their five midterm examinations, students completed questionnaires that assessed their anxiety, appraisals, internal dialogue, and performance attributions. Results indicated that both math and test anxiety accounted for unique variance in preexam appraisals, negative internal dialogue, postexam appraisals, pre- and postexam anxiety levels, and several types of performance attributions. Only test anxiety, however, accounted for variance in subjects' actual examination performances. I address the implications of a cognitive theory for math anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Performance, cognition, and physiological responding in test anxiety.

Autonomic (skin conductance and resistance, heart rate, and heart rate variability), self-report (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and causal attributions of task performance), and performance (modified Stroop Color–Word Test and 8 difficult anagrams) measures of anxiety were collected from 36 test-anxious and 36 non-test-anxious (Test Anxiety Scale) female undergraduates in an analog testing situation under 3 experimental conditions. High-test-anxious (HTA) Ss performed more poorly and reported higher levels of anxious arousal and worry in the analog testing situation than low-test-anxious (LTA) Ss. Also, self-evaluations of test performance made by HTA Ss differed from those made by LTA Ss in being more negative and unrelated to actual test performance. However, HTA and LTA Ss showed virtually identical changes in electrodermal activity and heart rate in response to the stress of the testing situation. Only heart rate variability, which appeared to reflect differences in the cognitive and attentional responses of the test anxiety groups, successfully differentiated HTA and LTA Ss. Results support cognitive formulations of test anxiety and indicate that deficits in information processing associated with test anxiety do not result from maladaptive levels of autonomic arousal. (56 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypnotic susceptibility as related to gestalt closure tasks.

Studied the relationship of gestalt closure tasks to hypnotizability (Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility and Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale) as a test of the hypothesis that the more highly hypnotizable do better on a task of holistic visuospatial functioning than those less responsive to hypnosis. Several other cognitive tasks were included. Four studies were conducted with 125 male and 106 female high school and college students. In Study I, high hypnotizables scored significantly higher than low hypnotizables on the gestalt closure tasks, but there were no significant correlations between hypnotizability and the other cognitive tasks. In Studies II and III, females showed significant correlations between hypnotic susceptibility and gestalt closure scores. In Study IV, a significant correlation between hypnotic susceptibility and gestalt closure was found for males. Results are consistent with studies of different types of cognitive functioning (hemispheric preference, creativity, attentional distribution, imaginative involvement, and absorption), all indicating differences in cognitive abilities associated with high hypnotizability. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)