Learned helplessness, test anxiety, and acknowledgment of contingencies.

72 undergraduates designated as high or low test anxious (Test Anxiety Questionnaire) received either controllable of uncontrollable noise in a typical helplessness induction. Half of them subsequently received an acknowledgment of contingencies in the induction task, and the other half did not. An anagram task was then administered. Test anxiety theory successfully predicted group differences in anagram performance: Only high-test-anxious Ss were debilitated by the helplessness induction. The effects of providing acknowledgment of contingencies proved ambiguous, but this may have been due to the wording of the acknowledgment and the susceptibility of high-test-anxious Ss to social dimensions of the task situation. Because of differences in terminology, learned helplessness theory has failed to take into account a large body of literature that has similarly employed experimenter-induced failure, and there are numerous competing explanations for impairments following a helplessness induction. Test anxiety theory suggests that the deficits underlying impaired performance are likely to be attentional in nature. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Worry, emotionality, and task-generated interference in test anxiety: An empirical test of attentional theory.

Investigated sources of interference in highly test anxious Ss performing under evaluative stress. 185 college students were administered the Test Anxiety Scale. Those from the upper (34 Ss) and lower (34 Ss) 30% of the distribution solved difficult anagrams under 2 evaluative conditions: high stress (evaluative) and low stress (nonevaluative). Major findings are that the high-anxiety/high-stress group (a) reported more anxiety during testing; (b) rated themselves, their abilities, and the task more negatively; (c) solved fewer anagrams; (d) estimated spending less time on task; (e) experienced more interference from anxiety; and (f) reported greater distraction of attention to heightened autonomic arousal (emotionality), worrisome thoughts (worry), and task-produced competing responses (task-generated interference) than did either the high-anxiety/low-stress or low-anxiety/high-stress group. Findings are interpreted in terms of attentional theories of anxiety. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group vicarious desensitization of test anxiety.

Examined whether vicarious desensitization, using videotapes and a small group format, could be used as a treatment for test anxiety. 43 test anxious college students were administered the Test Anxiety Inventory and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Ss received either vicarious desensitization, study skills training, or both treatments; there was also a no-treatment control condition. Self-report measures indicated that vicarious desensitization resulted in lower test and trait anxiety than study-skills training alone or no treatment. Academic performance measures, obtained posttreatment and at a 3-mo follow-up, indicated no differential effectiveness. (10 ref) (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)     

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)     

Test anxiety, stress, and intelligence-test performance.

Administered the Test Anxiety Scale for Children and the CMA scale to 332 6th graders. Later Ss were given an intelligence test under a number of experimental conditions designed to induce varying amounts of stress. Results were analyzed by means of 2 (anxiety) * 5 (experimental conditions) * 2 (sex) analyses of covariance, Ss having been classified as high or low anxious on the basis of their anxiety-scale scores. These analyses revealed that none of the effects of the main independent variables or of their interactions were significant. Results do not support either of the hypotheses: that high-anxious Ss will be more adversely affected by stress; and that test anxiety is more directly related to test performance than is general anxiety. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 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)     

A comparison of homogeneous and heterogeneous anxiety management training.

Compared the effectiveness of treating 31 test anxious (Achievement Anxiety Scale) and 25 speech anxious (Personal Report of Confidence as a Speaker) undergraduates in anxiety management training (AMT) groups composed of only test-anxious or speech-anxious Ss (homogeneous AMT) or a mixture of both (heterogeneous AMT). For test-anxious Ss, both forms of AMT significantly reduced state and trait test anxiety compared with controls, these gains were maintained, and Ss had higher psychology grades. Follow-up assessment evidenced nontargeted anxiety reduction for both forms of AMT, but showed that homogeneous AMT Ss reported less anxiety on the Fear Inventory than either heterogeneous AMT or control Ss. For speech-anxious Ss, heterogeneous AMT lowered speech anxiety significantly more and was the only condition to show any evidence of nontargeted anxiety reduction for Ss. Results are discussed in terms of immediate, efficient delivery of anxiety reduction services to a wide range of clients. (8 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)     

"Company motivates the miserable": The impact of consensus information on help seeking for psychological problems.

Based on an attribution theory analysis, it was predicted that normal Ss (those who do not evidence a particular target problem) would be least motivated to seek help for a psychological problem when they believe that the problem is actuarially common (i.e., high consensus). Based on an analysis of how target problem people evaluate their psychological problem, however, it was predicted that such Ss (unlike normals) should be maximally motivated to seek help when they believe that the problem is common. To test these predictions, target problem and normal Ss (72 high vs average test anxious female undergraduates, as assessed by the Test Anxiety Inventory) were given feedback that they possessed a problem (test anxiety). Ss were then told that their problem was either common, uncommon, or given no consensus information. As predicted, the higher consensus information led to the least help-seeking behavior for the normal Ss and to the most help-seeking behavior for the target problem Ss. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Test anxiety and helping behaviour.

Examined children's helping behavior as a function of test anxiety level and evaluative conditions. After taking the Test Anxiety Scale for Children, 72 4th graders completed a task under either evaluative or nonevaluative conditions, and then were given an opportunity to help a younger child with a sorting task. Examination of a significant interaction between anxiety and evaluation revealed that highly test-anxious Ss were most sensitive to the evaluative manipulation, being less likely to help in the evaluative than in the nonevaluative condition. Helping behavior of less anxious Ss did not vary with evaluation. It is suggested that relationships between personality variables and helping behavior should be examined only in combination with clearly specified situational variables. (French summary) (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Math anxiety: Relation with situational test anxiety, performance, physiological arousal, and math avoidance behavior.

Investigated the relation of mathematics anxiety to situationally assessed test anxiety, mathematics performance, physiological arousal, and mathematics avoidance behavior in 23 male and 40 female undergraduates. Ss completed the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale, the Mathematics Anxiety Scale, the Anxiety Toward Mathematics Scale, and the Test Anxiety Inventory prior to completing 3 mathematics tasks. During the tasks, heart rate, skin conductance level, skin fluctuations, and avoidance behavior were monitored. Ss also completed the Post-Task Questionnaire, a situational measure of test anxiety, worry, and emotionality. Results indicate that mathematics anxiety measures were more highly rated to each other than to test anxiety. Mathematics anxiety accounted for 14–23% of the variance in 2 tasks, whereas, ability accounted for 30–42%. Rarely, did anxiety add to the variance accounted for by ability. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

EMG biofeedback training versus systematic desensitization for test anxiety reduction.

Investigated EMG biofeedback training as a method to reduce test anxiety among 40 university students. A procedure combining EMG biofeedback training with systematic desensitization (SD) was compared to an automated SD program not using EMG feedback. The study also evaluated the effectiveness of EMG feedback relaxation training without SD. Ss were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups: (a) EMG biofeedback training with SD, (b) EMG biofeedback relaxation training, (c) automated SD, and (d) no-treatment control. At the end of the program, all participants were administered the Suinn Test Anxiety Behavior Scale, Sarason's Test Anxiety Scale, and an anagrams test, given under threat conditions. Results suggest that EMG biofeedback training is a useful technique for reducing test anxiety, but not necessarily more effective than SD. (22 ref) (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)     

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)     

Reduction of test anxiety through cognitive restructuring.

This collaborative clinical outcome study with 36 18–49 yr old Ss compared 2 procedures for reducing test anxiety with a waiting list control. In the first, systematic rational restructuring, the participants were trained to realistically reevaluate imaginally presented test-taking situations. In the second, a prolonged exposure condition, Ss were presented the same hierarchy items but with no instructions for coping cognitively. Ss were administered the following measures of test anxiety; the S-R Inventory of Anxiousness, Achievement Anxiety Test, Test Anxiety Questionnaire, Fear of Negative Evaluation, Social Avoidance and Distress Scale, and the Trait Scale of the Stait-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results show greater anxiety reduction in the systematic rational restructuring condition, followed by the prolonged exposure group, with no changes for the control. Only those in the rational restructuring condition reported a significant decrease in subjective anxiety when placed in an analog test-taking situation. Ss in the restructuring condition also reported greater generalized anxiety reduction in social-evaluative situations. Within the broader context of cognitive behavior therapy, these results indicate that the cognitive reappraisal of anxiety-provoking situations can offer an effective treatment procedure for the reduction of anxiety. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of knowledge of ability test results on academic performance and test anxiety.

Administered the School and College Ability Test to 222 freshmen during the 2nd wk. of the spring semester. Ss were then assigned to groups receiving detailed, limited, or no knowledge of their test performance. Ss completed the Test Anxiety Scale during the final examination period and GPAs were collected at the end of the semester. It was hypothesized that Ss with detailed knowledge would obtain higher GPAs and have a lower level of test anxiety. No significant differences in GPAs were found among the groups. Test anxiety was higher for the detailed knowledge group (p     

The interaction of test anxiety and success-failure experiences in determining children's arithmetic performance.

Studied the effects of the motives to approach success and to avoid failure in 60 5th and 6th grade boys and girls of low, middle, and high levels of test anxiety (Test Anxiety Scale for Children and Lie Scale for Children). Ss performed addition problems under 1 of 2 conditions: a mixed condition involving two-thirds success and one-third failure under time pressure and a success only condition in which all problems attempted were completed. As predicted, high anxious Ss, when compared to less anxious Ss on response rate, errors, and cheating, showed markedly inferior performance in the mixed condition, but comparable and improved performance in the success only condition. Findings indicate that anxious children perform poorly due to motivational difficulties rather than to learning deficiencies, and that their abilities are systematically underestimated by many achievement and educational testing procedures. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitions, test anxiety, and test performance: A closer look.

Used a thought-listing procedure to investigate the cognitions of 207 undergraduates who varied in test anxiety (high, moderate, low), as measured by the Test Anxiety Scale, and past achievement levels (high, low). Ss were assessed at different points (beginning, middle, end) during a final exam. The dependent variables included 7 categories of thoughts, semantic differential scales to assess the meaning of tests, and exam grade. Results generally replicate previous research findings with the exception that thought-list generated cognitions did not vary as a function of test anxiety level per se. It is concluded that (1) there is no significant relationship between test anxiety and performance on an in-course exam, (2) there is no significant relationship between frequency of cognitions and exam performance, and (3) different cognitive assessment methods may yield different pictures of cognitive phenomena. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)