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

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.

Download Full-text

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

Educational Psychology Review ◽

10.1007/s10648-021-09601-0 ◽

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.

Download Full-text

Feedback, Test Anxiety and Performance in a College Course

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1998.82.1.203 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 82 (1) ◽

pp. 203-208 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

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.

Download Full-text

Neuropsychological assessment and telemedicine: A preliminary study examining the reliability of neuropsychology services performed via telecommunication

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617703930128 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 472-478 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

SVENN E. JACOBSEN ◽

TERJE SPRENGER ◽

STEIN ANDERSSON ◽

JAN-MAGNE KROGSTAD

Keyword(s):

Rural Areas ◽

Test Performance ◽

Neuropsychological Test ◽

Verbal Learning ◽

Attention And Memory ◽

Cognitive Domains ◽

Face To Face ◽

Normal Populations ◽

And Performance ◽

Mean Differences

Within the last decade, various applications of two-way audio-visual telecommunication have been implemented in the Norwegian health care system to facilitate the delivery of medical services to patients located in rural areas away from the hospitals. This technology may also be useful to extend neuropsychological services to underserved areas and thereby reduce the patients' travel time and costs. In the current study, a total of 12 visual, verbal and performance tests were administered face-to-face and via videophones to 32 volunteer participants to examine the consistency and stability of test-scores when delivered via different formats. The obtained reliability coefficients ranged from .37 to .86 with a median value of .74. When testing for mean differences, the measures on verbal learning (WMS–Logical Memory I) and auditory attention (Seashore Rhythm Test) differed significantly due to administration format (t = 2.34, p = .024 and t = 2.37, p = .025, respectively). The findings imply that administration format does not appear to affect the reliability of measurement but neuropsychological test performance is significantly higher for the measures of attention and memory when delivered via videophone. Additional research on these cognitive domains is required, and if the observed differences due to testing format persist, separate normative data via telecommunication will be required before assessments are carried out. Also, since only normal participants were included in this study, the findings may have external validity for normal populations, but similar controlled trials with patients need to be completed before remote assessments can be implemented in regular clinical practice. (JINS, 2003, 9, 472–478.)

Download Full-text

The Relationship of Level of Eye-Hand Coordination and Answer Marking Format to the Test Performance of First — And Second-Grade Pupils; Implications for Test Validity

Educational and Psychological Measurement ◽

10.1177/001316448504500222 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 369-375

Author(s):

Gary C. Ramseyer ◽

Valjean M. Cashen

Keyword(s):

Test Performance ◽

Short Form ◽

Test Validity ◽

Severe Depression ◽

Answer Sheet ◽

Developmental Differences ◽

Second Grade ◽

Mental Maturity ◽

Hand Coordination ◽

Grade One

This study was concerned with the effects of eye-hand coordination on the ability of first- and second-grade pupils to use separate answer sheets on the California Test of Mental Maturity, Short Form (CTMM). The subjects were 57 pupils enrolled in these two grades at one elementary school. In terms of their scores on Subtest I of the Frostig Developmental Test of Visual Perception, subjects were grouped into low, middle, and high levels of eye-hand coordination. The CTMM was then administered twice to all subjects: once using the test booklet marking format and once employing a separate answer sheet. Order of administration was counterbalanced within each eye-hand group. As expected, the analysis of variance yielded significant main effects of marking format at each grade level in favor of the booklet marking format. Moreover, marking format and eye-hand group membership yielded a significant interaction ( p <.05) at grade one. Simple effects tests indicated significant differences in favor of the booklet format for low and middle range eye-hand groups but not for the high group. It was concluded that a low level of eye-hand coordination contributes to a severe depression of separate answer sheet performance at grade one. Developmental differences were cited as the probable cause. Implications for test validity were discussed briefly.

Download Full-text

Consequences of Test Anxiety on Adaptive Versus Fixed Item Testing

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759/a000062 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 157-163 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Tuulia M. Ortner ◽

Juliane Caspers

Keyword(s):

Test Anxiety ◽

Test Performance ◽

Computerized Adaptive Testing ◽

Item Difficulty ◽

Short Form ◽

Adaptive Testing ◽

Standard Test ◽

Test Form ◽

Test Mode ◽

Modern School

We investigated the effects of test anxiety on test performance using computerized adaptive testing (CAT) versus conventional fixed item testing (FIT). We hypothesized that tests containing mainly items with medium probabilities of being solved would have negative effects on test performance for testtakers high in test anxiety. A total of 110 students (aged 16 to 20) from a German secondary modern school filled out a short form of the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI-G; Wacker, Jaunzeme, & Jaksztat, 2008 ) and then were presented with items from the Adaptive Matrices Test (AMT; Hornke, Etzel, & Rettig, 1999 ) on the computer, either in CAT form or in a fixed item test form with a selection of items arranged in order of increasing item difficulty. Additionally, half of the students were given a short summary of information about the mode of item selection in adaptive testing before working on the CAT. In a moderated regression approach, a significant interaction of test anxiety and test mode was revealed. The effect of test mode on the AMT score was stronger for students with higher scores on test anxiety than for students with lower test anxiety. Furthermore, getting information about CAT led to significantly better results than receiving standard test instructions. Results are discussed with reference to test fairness.

Download Full-text

Effects of Humor on Test Anxiety and Performance

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1999.84.3c.1203 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 84 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. 1203-1213 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

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.

Download Full-text

Test Anxiety, Sex, and Exam Type

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1985.56.2.663 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 56 (2) ◽

pp. 663-668 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

David Furst ◽

Gershon Tenenbaum ◽

Gilad Weingarten

Keyword(s):

Test Anxiety ◽

Physical Performance ◽

State Anxiety ◽

Academic Disciplines ◽

Global Measure ◽

Outcomes Measures ◽

Pencil And Paper ◽

And Performance ◽

Complex Relationships ◽

Performance Examination

This study investigated the relationships (a) among worry, emotionality, and a more global measure of state anxiety before three types of examinations (objective, physical performance, and subjective) given in three academic disciplines and (b) among the three anxiety measures and expected and actual outcomes for 146 men and 217 women (age: M = 23.72, SD = 3.33). Across all types of examinations women scored higher on emotionality and general state anxiety than men. Women tended to underestimate and men to overestimate their performance. Both sexes were more emotional before pencil-and-paper examinations than physical performance examinations, but they worried more before the performance examination. Correlations indicated clearer and more consistent relationships for women between expectations, performance, relative success, and the outcomes measures. For men, more complex relationships with both somative and cognitive anxiety across types of examination were found. It is suggested that test anxiety and performance on examinations be studied in relation to both differences in gender and type of examination.

Download Full-text