Test anxiety and academic performance: The effects of study-related behaviors.

Investigated (a) the relationship of test anxiety to academic performance in college students, (b) differences in study-related behaviors between high and low test-anxious Ss, and (c) differential effectiveness of study-related behaviors for both groups. Undergraduate Ss were 65 high and 31 low scorers on the Test Anxiety Scale. Results demonstrate a significant decrement in GPA associated with test anxiety. High test-anxious Ss were also found to have poorer study skills. For high test-anxious Ss, quality of study habits and amount of study time were positively related to academic performance, whereas missing classes and delaying exams were inversely related to performance. Findings are discussed in terms of the prevailing interference model of test anxiety. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond the uniformity myth: A comparison of academically successful and unsuccessful test-anxious college students.

72 college students were administered a battery of tests including the Test Anxiety Scale, Worry-Emotionality Scale, Fear of Negative Evaluation, and Academic Self-Evaluation Questionnaire. Two levels of test anxiety were crossed with 2 levels of academic performance in a factorial design. High-anxious Ss differed from low-anxious Ss on traditional cognitive and somatic indicators of test anxiety, but not on any measure of study or test-taking skills. Ss with high grades, regardless of their anxiety level, scored higher on measures of academic skills than Ss in both "low" performing groups. A measure assessing ability to control negative internal dialog revealed significant differences only between performance groups, implicating cognitive control as a factor influencing academic performance. Expectations that Ss had about the amount of material they needed to know to be prepared for examinations were related to test anxiety, especially among successful but anxious Ss. Implications are noted for designing interventions specifically tailored to the needs of 2 types of test-anxious students: those who perform well in school and those who are less successful. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between digit span and anxiety.

The hypothesis was tested that WAIS Digit Span (DS) performance is disrupted by anxiety. 110 college students, who had been tested on Taylor's MA scale and Sarason's Test Anxiety Questionnaire, were tested under an anxiety-inducing or rapport-establishing (control) procedure. After testing on DS, experimental Ss were asked if the instruction variable had disturbed them. With respect to DS: (a) no-significant differences were found between experimental and control groups, but within the experimental group, those who were disturbed were inferior on DS to control Ss (p r = -.23, p r = .26, p     

Test anxiety and intellectual performance.

High school students were administered 2 anxiety scales, the Test Anxiety Scale and a Need for Achievement scale. Scores on these tests were related to scores on the School and College Ability Test (SCAT). Test anxiety was found to be negatively correlated with SCAT scores. The negative correlations obtained tended to be larger for female than for male Ss. The Need for Achievement scale showed only a slight tendency to correlate negatively with SCAT scores. The results were interpreted as being consistent with the conception of anxiety as an interfering nonintellectual influence on intellectual performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety in academic achievement situations.

Scales of general anxiety (Taylor, Welsh, and Freeman) and of anxiety specific to academic situations (Mandler-Sarason, Achievement Anxiety Test) were administered to college freshmen. Academic achievement included verbal aptitude, the Scholastic Aptitude Test, overall grade-point average, and performance in psychology courses. The 2 tests of specific anxiety were seen to be measuring something different than the more general tests and were differentially related to academic performance. "Facilitating" vs. "debilitating" anxiety was distinguished. Results are related to the general body of knowledge in area. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Encouragement, anxiety, and test performance.

"To determine the effect of encouragement on the individual test performance of Ss with varying amounts of anxiety, two anxiety scales were first administered to a sample of college students… three groups of Ss were selected and designated low-, medium-, and high-anxiety. To each S was individually administered the MacQuarrie Test for Mechanical Ability… . On the basis of scores on this test, each anxiety category was divided into two equated groups. Six weeks later the test was again individually administered to each S, this time encouraging comments being offered between subtests to one group in each category but not to the other. Two-tailed t tests revealed only one significant finding: the performance of the low-anxiety Ss displayed increased variability under encouragement." 23 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intellectual and personality correlates of test anxiety.

Ss were administered: Sarason's True-False Test Anxiety Scale, Bendig's 20-item version of the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, Sarason's Lack of Protection Scale, and Edwards' Social Desirability Scale. These data were intercorrelated with 13 measures of intellectual performance. "Although all correlations between anxiety and intellectual measures were small, there was a consistent, significant tendency for… [Sarason's True-False Test Anxiety Scale] to correlate negatively with the intellectual measures. No similar tendency was observed for the… [other scales]." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Environmental press and psychological need as related to academic success of minority group students.

Investigated the relationship between environmental press and psychological needs for both the most academically successful and the least successful black, Mexican-American, and American-Indian undergraduates (N = 138). Ss completed the College Characteristics Index (CCI) and the Stern Activities Index as measures of press and psychological need. Scores on the Taylor Manifest Anxiety scale and the Rotter Internal-External Control Scale were used to study the extent to which anxiety and achievement motivation affected academic success. Scholastic Aptitude Test scores were used as measures of academic success. Congruent relationships were found between nonintellectual environmental presses and psychological needs on emotional expression and dependency need factors for both academically successful and least successful Ss. Significant negative correlations on the Ego Achievement and Play-Work scales of the CCI suggest a press in the campus atmosphere for intellectualism without a corresponding psychological need. Implications for counseling minority students are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavior of high, moderate, and low test anxious students during an actual test situation.

A 3 by 2 by 3 Test Anxiety Level by Level of Past Academic Performance by Point of Assessment factorial design was employed to examine effects on 8 dependent variables: positive thoughts; negative thoughts; evaluation, potency, and activity semantic differentials; history test grade; bodily sensations; and Subjective Units of Disturbance Scale score. Results with 231 college students indicate that low test anxious Ss differed significantly from high test anxious Ss on all 8 dependent variables. Level of test anxiety had a significant effect on each dependent variable. In addition, Ss with high GPAs received significantly higher test grades and reported more bodily sensations indicative of arousal than Ss with low GPAs. Ss assessed toward the end of the test (last 10 min) reported significantly more negative thoughts and bodily sensations than Ss assessed after reading the history test questions for the first time (beginning) or at the middle of the test. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathology and academic performance: The role of motivation and learning strategies.

How psychopathology, defined as high psychological distress with concomitant limited coping resources, relates to students' academic performance and its determinants is examined. The correlation between college students' (N?=?326) level of psychopathology and their course grade was not significant. However, psychopathology was significantly related to students' motivation and use of learning strategies that were, in turn, related to academic performance. Specifically, more poorly adjusted students perceived themselves as less competent to succeed, experienced greater test anxiety, and were less likely to regulate their study environment, persist in the face of difficulty, and seek academic assistance when needed. Structural equation modeling (EQS) provided evidence that psychopathology had a significant indirect effect on performance and demonstrated the important role of self-efficacy and resource management. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of self-appraisals of ability on academic performance.

Longitudinal data on 1,718 high school males from the Youth in Transition Project (J. G. Bachman, 1970) were analyzed using structural equation models. Data, which were collected over a 3-yr period, included self-appraisals of academic ability and effort, reports of test anxiety, and scores on measures such as the Quick Test and the Vocabulary scale of the General Aptitude Test Battery. Results suggest that self-appraisals had moderate effects on later grades and that this effect in part reflected greater effort by Ss with positive self-appraisals. Although self-appraisals affected the degree of test anxiety experienced by the Ss, they did not appear to affect grades. There was some evidence that test anxiety interfered with performance on standardized tests. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-monitoring of attained subgoals in private study.

Compared 3 conditions of self-monitoring of private study for their effects on academic performance and intrinsic motivation. Ss were 240 1st-yr college students who were divided among high, moderate, and low achievers. Within each group, Ss were assigned to 1 of 4 study conditions: self-monitor subgoal condition, self-monitor time-on-study condition, self-monitor distal-goal condition, and control condition. In end-of-year examinations, Ss who self-monitored subgoals outperformed Ss who self-monitored either time or study or distal goals on the target course of the investigation. Furthermore, although Ss who self-monitored duration of study actually spent significantly longer on study, their examination performance was not significantly better than that of control Ss. Besides the beneficial effects on learning, subgoal self-monitoring enhanced intrinsic interest in the target course, as evidenced from Ss' ratings. Requiring Ss to turn in samples of study notes did not have an impact on examination performance; however, this requirement interacted with study condition in its effect on intrinsic interest. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affective, cognitive, and behavioral differences between high and low procrastinators.

Examined the relation between academic procrastination and academically related trait measures among 379 university students, including 261 females, 117 males, and 1 S who did not specify gender. 126 of the Ss participated in weekly assessment sessions. Ss completed a procrastination assessment scale, the Test Anxiety Scale, a self-control scale, and a trait measure of attributions of success and failure 3 times when midterm examinations approached. Results indicate that more than 40% of the Ss reported a high level of procrastination. Self-reported procrastination was positively correlated with delay in taking self-paced quizzes and was negatively correlated with grade point average (GPA). High procrastinators, particularly women, were significantly more likely than were low procrastinators to report more test anxiety, weekly state anxiety, and weekly anxiety-related physical symptoms. High procrastinators were significantly more likely than were low procrastinators to attribute success on examinations to external and unstable factors. As the examination deadline approached, both high and low procrastinators perceived examinations to be less difficult, less important, and less anxiety provoking; reported fewer factors to hinder study behavior; increased their study behavior; and decreased delay. Implications for anxiety reduction as a procrastination intervention are discussed. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences and preference for instructional methods.

Administered the Test Anxiety Questionnaire and the Omnibus Personality Inventory to 185 college students taking a psychology course in socialization. Ss were then asked to choose 1 of 3 instructional options: lecture, lecture with discussion, or independent study. Ss preferring each option differed on dimensions such as flexibility, autonomy, preference for abstract thinking, and several variables dealing with academic and personal experience. Other research dealing with individual differences and student behavior is discussed, and recommendations for practical application to the classroom are presented. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two, three, or four heads are better than one: Modification of college performance by peer monitoring.

Two studies with a total of 621 undergraduates assessed the effects of a peer-monitoring procedure on student performance in a college course. In the 1st study, Ss were assigned a learning partner and informed that their final grade would be determined by the average of their individual performances. A class with traditional grading served as the control group. In the 2nd study, grade averaging was again employed for experimental peer-monitoring groups of 2, 3, or 4 Ss. Here, experimental and control Ss were students in the same course. Both studies indicated the superiority of the peer-monitoring method over the typical individual performance contingency. Peer-monitoring procedures can be implemented in college courses with no added expense and minimal increases in bookkeeping. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of EMG biofeedback and relaxation training in the prevention of academic underachievement.

Examined whether 3 techniques commonly used to treat anxiety (anxiety management training, EMG biofeedback, and stress-management training) could be used to prevent the academic underachievement associated with anxiety in college students. 19 anxious freshman women (identified by a test battery that included the Achievement Anxiety Test, Eysenck Personality Inventory, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) each completed 6 sessions of either anxiety-management or stress-management training with live instruction. Additionally, each S received 6 sessions of either EMG biofeedback or taped instruction. All 4 treatment combinations successfully reduced both somatic and cognitive anxiety symptoms. The average GPA of the experimental Ss was significantly higher than that of matched no-treatment controls. These findings suggest that early intervention for academic anxiety may be beneficial. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of electromyographic biofeedback and cue-controlled relaxation in the treatment of test anxiety.

Studied the effect of using electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback to increase the efficacy of cue-controlled relaxation training in the treatment of test anxiety. 40 college undergraduates scoring in the upper third on the Test Anxiety Scale were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatment conditions—EMG-assisted cue-controlled relaxation, cue controlled relaxation alone, attention-placebo relaxation, and no-treatment control. Pre–post self-report measures of test anxiety, state anxiety, and trait anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) were obtained. In addition, a performance measure (Otis-Lennon Mental Abilities Test) was administered. Ss from the 3 relaxation groups received 6 45-min individual sessions over 2 wks. All treatments were conducted using audiotape recordings. Results indicate that cue-controlled relaxation is effective in increasing test performance for test anxious Ss, that EMG biofeedback does not contribute to the effectiveness of this procedure, and that self-report measures of anxiety are susceptible to a placebo effect. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interactive effects of test anxiety, test difficulty, and feedback.

Examined interactive effects of item difficulty, test anxiety, and failure feedback in a study of 67 undergraduates (mean age 20.1 yrs) using multiple-choice verbal aptitude items. Ss' levels of test anxiety were measured on the Achievement Anxiety Test and the Test Anxiety Scale. Ss were then randomly assigned to receive either a hard or an easy test either with or without immediate feedback. Results indicate that ability estimates can be affected in complex ways by the examinee's anxiety level. The least anxious Ss in the sample did best on a very hard test, and moderately anxious Ss did best on an easy test, whereas the most anxious Ss did poorly on both tests. In addition, it was found that immediate feedback improved performance, especially for Ss given an easy test. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)