scholarly journals Testing, Testing, 1 2 3: Exploring the Mitigating Effects of Sound on Test Performance

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phoebe Viola Sartori Amsberry
Keyword(s):  
Standardized Testing ◽  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Improve Performance ◽  
Testing Environment ◽  
Impact Performance ◽  
Within Subjects ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Study Participants

Due to the amount of pressure put on students to perform well and the growing amount of standardized testing in the American Education system, there has been a dramatic increase in the identification and study of test anxiety and its impact on performance. Treatments of test anxiety are typically preventative in nature and focus on what can be done outside of the classroom on the part of the individual to improve performance. However, it may be more impactful to manipulate the actual testing environment on a larger scale. This study, through a 4 week within-subjects model, sought to explore these environmental manipulations through the inclusion of sound in the environment. Throughout this study participants were subjected to testing in silence, preferred, nonpreferred, and ambient soundscapes. Test performance was significantly improved (by up to 22%) when participants were exposed to preferred music stimuli. However, performance is a complex phenomenon impacted by many different variables and more research should be done exploring how different cognitive factors impact performance.

Influence of Test Environment, Age, Sex, and Sport on Baseline Computerized Neurocognitive Test Performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (13) ◽  
pp. 3263-3269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan French ◽  
Patrick Huber ◽  
Joseph McShane ◽  
Cyndi L. Holland ◽  
Robert J. Elbin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Test Performance ◽  
Symptom Severity ◽  
Test Validity ◽  
Outreach Program ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Testing Environment ◽  
Severity Scores ◽  
Sport Type ◽  
Neurocognitive Test ◽  
The Individual

Background: Baseline computerized testing is a common component of concussion assessments, and the testing environment has been suggested to influence test performance and validity. Purpose: To compare concussion baseline computerized neurocognitive test performance and validity among adolescent athletes based on testing environment (group, individual), age group (10-12, 13-15, 16-18 years), sex (male, female), and sport type (collision/combat, contact, noncontact). Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Through a concussion community outreach program, participants completed baseline computerized neurocognitive testing using Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT). A total of 2845 athletes aged 10 to 18 years completed the baseline assessment. A total of 2241 (79%) athletes completed baseline testing in a group environment, and 604 (21%) completed testing in an individual environment. A random subsample of 500 athletes from each group was selected for statistical comparison. Results: No significant differences were supported in baseline computerized neurocognitive test performance between the group and individual administration environments. Test validity was statistically similar across testing environment, age group, and sex. However, patients of older age (16-18 years), female sex, and collision/combat and contact sports performed better on ImPACT. There were differences in total symptom severity scores ( t = 2.19, df = 998, P = .03), with participants in the group testing environment reporting lower total symptom severity scores than those in the individual testing environment. The rates of invalid tests were low across all age groups, averaging from 4.0% in the 10- to 12-year age group to 4.8% in the 13- to 15-year age group. Conclusion: The findings indicated that concussion baseline neurocognitive test performance is similar when administered in group and individual testing environments. However, differences based on age group, sex, and sport type should be considered when interpreting baseline computerized neurocognitive test scores. The finding of higher symptom scores in older adolescents in the individual testing environment suggests that they may be less forthcoming about symptoms in a group setting.

Adaptivity and Judgment in Rule Verification Tasks: An Empirical Investigation

1998 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-285
Author(s):  
Ann M. Bisantz ◽  
Alex Kirlik
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Task Environment ◽  
Verification Task ◽  
Improve Performance ◽  
Impact Performance ◽  
The Poor

Recent studies of decision making have suggested that the poor performance typically demonstrated by traditional decision making research is due not to failures on the part of the human, but failures of the empirical studies to test performance in representative situations. In particular, some researchers have studied how experience in an uncertain environment can improve performance. We describe research designed to test the effect of explicit environmental experience on performance on a rule verification task. Participants performed a rule verification task after receiving related experience in the task environment. Results indicated that performance was very similar to that on traditional tasks of this type, in contrast to research which suggested that knowledge of uncertainty should impact performance.

scholarly journals Test anxiety in school-age children: An examination of a national epidemic

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 08-16
Author(s):  
David A Scott ◽  
Emily Lamb ◽  
Julia Kate Bentley ◽  
Caroline Sumner
Keyword(s):  
Standardized Testing ◽  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Test Preparation ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Accountability Measures ◽  
Performance Accountability ◽  
The Many

Test anxiety has long been an issue with students, parents and in schools on a global level. Many students are becoming overwhelmed with the increased demands placed on test preparation and test performance. Accountability measures have become a major priority, with school children enduring standardized testing annually from grades three through eight, and once more in high school.  This article will explore the many facets of test anxiety, what some schools are doing to try to reduce the anxiety and interventions counselors can use in their work with students. Keywords: Test anxiety; schools; children; anxiety

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.

Annoyingness of Aircraft Noise in Relation to Cognitive Activity

1986 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 599-616
Author(s):  
Malcolm D. Arnoult ◽  
Lynne G. Gillfillan ◽  
James W. Voorhees
Keyword(s):  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Cognitive Activity ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Aircraft Noise ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Performance Difference ◽  
Point Scale ◽  
Embedded Figures ◽  
Continuous Noise ◽  
The Individual

College students were exposed by means of headphones to two kinds of aircraft noise (helicopter and jet) at three levels of loudness (60, 70, and 80 dB) while engaging in two tests of intelligibility and 12 cognitive tasks. In addition, the annoyingness of the noise was rated on a seven-point scale for each source/loudness combination in each task. Individual-differences measures (embedded figures, locus-of-control, and test anxiety) were also obtained. No performance difference related to noise was obtained in any of the cognitive tasks, and using the individual-difference measures as co-variates made no difference. In a second experiment a limited set of five modified cognitive tasks was used, again without producing any significant results. Finally, a third experiment utilized four cognitive tasks, a perceptual-motor task (Rotary Tracking) and intermittent rather than continuous noise, and yielded the same results. It was concluded that the failure to find performance differences on the cognitive tasks was probably due to the fact that concern for the welfare of the subjects limited the stimuli to loudness levels that were too low to be effective.

Pokémon Go as a Tool to Study the Social and Cognitive Factors that Impact Spatial Navigation

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 1221-1225
Author(s):  
Dawn G. Blasko ◽  
Heather C. Lum ◽  
Mason McGuire ◽  
Tiffany Eichler ◽  
Kameron Landers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Internal Validity ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Cooperative Groups ◽  
Spatial Skills ◽  
The Social ◽  
Pokémon Go ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Play Style

Researchers in spatial navigation have the difficult task of finding ecologically valid measures while maintaining a reasonable degree of internal validity. This often means simulating wayfinding and navigation task in the laboratory which increases control but eliminates the experience of walking around a natural environment. Augmented reality games like Pokémon Go allow researchers a novel way to study individual differences in cognitive and social factors in wayfinding with a game already designed to motivate players to move around in the real world. In the current study, Pokémon Go was played either individually or socially (2 players) while a map of the player’ speed and location was created in real time. We measured play style preference, game experience and basic spatial skills (mental rotation). Mental rotation performance was correlated with enjoying the game and being more motivated to play. Although games scores and distances traveled did not differ between the individual and cooperative groups, participates reported a strong preference for playing with a group over playing alone.

scholarly journals Cohort Profile: The China Multi-Ethnic Cohort (CMEC) Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xing Zhao ◽  
Feng Hong ◽  
Jianzhong Yin ◽  
Wenge Tang ◽  
Gang Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Laboratory ◽  
Disease Incidence ◽  
Data Access ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Baseline Survey ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Long Term Storage ◽  
Level Data ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Study Participants

AbstractCohort purposeThe China Multi-Ethnic Cohort (CMEC) is a community population-based prospective observational study aiming to address the urgent need for understanding NCD prevalence, risk factors and associated conditions in resource-constrained settings for ethnic minorities in China.Cohort BasicsA total of 99 556 participants aged 30 to 79 years (Tibetan populations include those aged 18 to 30 years) from the Tibetan, Yi, Miao, Bai, Bouyei, and Dong ethnic groups in Southwest China were recruited between May 2018 and September 2019.Follow-up and attritionAll surviving study participants will be invited for re-interviews every 3-5 years with concise questionnaires to review risk exposures and disease incidence. Furthermore, the vital status of study participants will be followed up through linkage with established electronic disease registries annually.Design and MeasuresThe CMEC baseline survey collected data with an electronic questionnaire and face-to-face interviews, medical examinations and clinical laboratory tests. Furthermore, we collected biological specimens, including blood, saliva and stool, for long-term storage. In addition to the individual level data, we also collected regional level data for each investigation site.Collaboration and data accessCollaborations are welcome. Please send specific ideas to corresponding author at: [email protected].

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