scholarly journals Revisiting the Role of Worries in Explaining the Link Between Test Anxiety and Test Performance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frieder L. Schillinger ◽  
Jochen A. Mosbacher ◽  
Clemens Brunner ◽  
Stephan E. Vogel ◽  
Roland H. Grabner
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Standardized Tests ◽  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Inverse Relationship ◽  
Curvilinear Relationship ◽  
General Intelligence ◽  
Mathematical Competencies ◽  
And Performance

AbstractThe inverse relationship between test anxiety and test performance is commonly explained by test-anxious students’ tendency to worry about a test and the consequences of failing. However, other cognitive facets of test anxiety have been identified that could account for this link, including interference by test-irrelevant thoughts and lack of confidence. In this study, we compare different facets of test anxiety in predicting test performance. Seven hundred thirty university students filled out the German Test Anxiety Inventory after completing a battery of standardized tests assessing general intelligence and mathematical competencies. Multiple regressions revealed that interference and lack of confidence but not worry or arousal explained unique variance in students’ test performance. No evidence was found for a curvilinear relationship between arousal and performance. The present results call for revisiting the role of worries in explaining the test anxiety-performance link and can help educators to identify students who are especially at risk of underperforming on tests.

Effects of Humor on Test Anxiety and Performance

1999 ◽  
Vol 84 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1203-1213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur H. Perlini ◽  
Roger G. Nenonen ◽  
David L. Lind
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Sense Of Humor ◽  
Test Items ◽  
Test Conditions ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Moderating Role

The present study evaluated the moderating effects of humor in test items on the hypothesized relationship between test anxiety and performance. Subjects initially completed anxiety scales, as well as coping-humor and sense-of-humor scales. 34 women and 26 men received achievement tests under one of three test conditions: (1) nonhumorous, (2) low-humor (15% of test items), or (3) moderate-humor (30% of test items). These test versions were administered under both low, i.e., short quiz, and high, i.e., examination, outcome-value conditions. Humor frequency did not improve the test performance of highly test-anxious subjects under either outcome-value condition. Together with other previous disconfirmatory findings, the present results suggest that the hypothesized moderating role of item humor in the anxiety-performance relationship may be overstated. Ancillary analyses suggest that individual differences in the use of humor as a coping strategy significantly predict examination scores.

scholarly journals The Relationship between Self-Esteem and Achievement Goals in University Students: The Mediating and Moderating Role of Defensive Pessimism

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7531
Author(s):  
María del Mar Ferradás ◽  
Carlos Freire ◽  
José Carlos Núñez ◽  
Bibiana Regueiro
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Achievement Goals ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Defensive Pessimism ◽  
Academic Context ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Learning And Performance

Although achievement goals have been the subject of much study about their implications for learning and performance, interest has been less marked in understanding their precursors, particularly those linked to students’ personal characteristics. In this study, we examine the role of a defensive pessimism strategy as a mediator and moderator of the relationships between self-esteem and achievement goals in a sample of 1028 university students. Analysis of mediation and moderation was performed using the PROCESS macro within SPSS. The results showed that defensive pessimism partially mediates and moderates the effect of self-esteem on approach goals (learning and performance). We found no significant mediation or moderation effect for defensive pessimism in the relationship between self-esteem and performance-avoidance goals. These findings suggest that defensive pessimism is an effective strategy to encourage motivational involvement in students with low self-esteem in the academic context.

Feedback, Test Anxiety and Performance in a College Course

1998 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Clark ◽  
P. A. Fox ◽  
H. G. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Anxiety Scale ◽  
Course Performance ◽  
Test Feedback ◽  
Scale Scores ◽  
Lower Test ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Unit Tests

The effects of three forms of test feedback and text anxiety on test performance were examined within the context of a self-paced, criterion-based course in educational psychology. 73 undergraduate students completed seven units of work and were evaluated by computer-administered unit tests. Students were randomly assigned to one of three test feedback forms: (1) item-by-item knowledge of responses, (2) answer-until-correct, and (3) delayed feedback. Students received their assigned feedback during the first two units, after which they were allowed to choose. Test anxiety was measured prior to testing on Sarason's Test Anxiety Scale and during testing on an item administered by the computer program. Students who reported high test anxiety on the Test Anxiety Scale experienced more anxiety during testing than students reporting low test anxiety. Anxiety during testing was not related to type of feedback, and the two variables were not related to course performance on the second unit. Data collected at the conclusion of the semester indicated that students who reported higher test anxiety required more attempts to pass unit tests than those reporting lower test anxiety. Given a choice, students preferred answer-until-correct feedback. This preference was not related to Test Anxiety Scale scores. Anxiety during testing was not related to being allowed to choose forms of feedback.

The Effect of Computer-Administered Testing on Test Anxiety and Performance

1987 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria M. Llabre ◽  
Nancy E. Clements ◽  
Katharine B. Fitzhugh ◽  
Gary Lancelotta ◽  
Roy D. Mazzagatti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Developmental Reading ◽  
Private University ◽  
Female College Students ◽  
Mental Maturity ◽  
Pencil And Paper ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Mean Differences

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a computer-administered test on test anxiety and performance. The sample comprised twenty-six male and fourteen female college students enrolled in a developmental reading course at a private university. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a computerized or to a pencil-and-paper testing situation. Both groups were administered a revised version of the Test Anxiety Scale (TAS-R) and a sample of items from the California Short-Form Test of Mental Maturity (CMM). Mean differences between groups on the TAS-R and the CMM were tested for significance using t-tests. The results indicated significant differences in anxiety level, t(38) = −1.87, p < .05, and test performance, t(38) = 2.68, p < .01. It was concluded that computer-administered testing can potentially increase test anxiety and depress test performance for examinees who are relatively unfamiliar with computers.

Boundary conditions of a curvilinear relationship between decision comprehensiveness and performance: The role of functional and national diversity

2016 ◽  
Vol 69 (8) ◽  
pp. 2801-2811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Mitchell ◽  
Brendan Boyle ◽  
Stephen Nicholas ◽  
Elizabeth Maitland ◽  
Shuming Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Curvilinear Relationship ◽  
And Performance

Inherent limits on the identification of a neural basis for general intelligence

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clancy Blair
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Intelligence Test ◽  
General Intelligence ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Generative Theory ◽  
Target Article

AbstractThe target article provides a thoughtful review and synthesis of studies examining the neural basis of cognitive abilities associated with intelligence test performance. In its attempt to present a new or generative theory of the neural basis for intelligence, however, the review faces specific limits to its theoretical model that relate to processes of development and the role of automaticity in cognition.

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