The I ngredients of Test Anxiety

1. The Ingredients of Test Anxiety

2. The Ingredients of Test Anxiety Test anxiety, as we pointed out earlier, has two main components--worryandemotionality. Although your negative thoughts and physical reactions may seem to develop spontaneously, there are identifiable events that precede them. There are also predictable responses that follow them and result in reduced test performance. The different ingredients of test anxiety, when taken all together, make up an understandable sequence that is repeated under test situations. The entire process can become a cycle.

3. The Ingredients of Test Anxiety . . . A diagram of the ingredients that enter into test anxiety is shown in Figure 1 which follows. Each ingredient is extracted from the test anxiety mix and discussed separately in this Guide. Refer to Figure 1 often as you read the descriptions of the individual ingredients. Learning about the individual ingredients of test anxiety will help you to: Clearly understand what is happening when you feel test anxious. Remove some of the mystery and confusion you might feel about test anxiety.

4. The Ingredients of Test Anxiety . . . Prepare and finally enable you to recognize what you can do to reduce test anxiety, when to do it, and why you are taking specific actions See that you can exert considerable control over your test anxiety .

5. Figure 1: The Components of Test Anxiety TEST Negative Thoughts (Worry) FAILURE No Future Disapproval Thoughts Observations & Beliefs Before & During the Test About the Test, Self & Others Task Relevant & Irrelevant Anxiety Effects Blank Mind Can’t Concentrate Careless Mistakes Poor Performance Physical Reactions (Emotionality) Heart Rate Sweating Muscle Tension

6. Ingredients: The Test . . . The starting place for test anxiety is a test or examination. No surprise there -- that's why the condition is labeled “test anxiety.” A test serves an important function: it evaluates how well you have learned and can apply certain information or skills. You receive the results of the evaluation in the form of a test score or grade. All of this sounds pretty cut-and-dried so what is there to be anxious about? The big deal is this: the score or grade you earn can have a variety of significant consequences. Some of the consequences are quite exciting and very positive. For example, with some high scores you can earn a scholarship, be accepted to a professional program or a university, and gain recognition from teachers, family members, and peers.

7. Ingredients: The Test . . . Low or average grades/scores, however, can have negative or unwanted consequences: for example, not receiving a scholarship, not being accepted into a school or program, and the disappointment of significant other persons in your life. You will not be overly anxious if you are confident about attaining the score(s) necessary to reach your desired goals. Nor are you likely to be too anxious if the exam consequences, either positive or negative, are relatively unimportant to you. But, if you lack confidence in your abilities and you want to achieve the positive outcomes -- or avoid the negative -- then you may experience excess anxiety.

8. Ingredients: Thoughts & Observations THOUGHTS Epictetus, a first-century Greek philosopher, wrote that, "Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them." This wisdom, applied to exams, suggests that tests can mean different things to different people. A test then can become much more than an evaluation of what one has learned. One form of special meaning that many persons give to exams is that tests are a measure of worth. This view alone contributes mightily to test anxiety.

9. Ingredients: Thoughts & Observations . . . THOUGHTS . . . Another category of thoughts include those totally unrelated to the test or its consequences: the weather outside, where you will eat dinner, a love relationship, or assorted daydreams. These task-irrelevant thoughts are a source of significant problems because they distract you or lead you away from your fundamental purpose: to perform your best by paying attention to the test. OBSERVATIONS Observations are based on information that we have gathered from our immediate environment by using our physical senses. We hear noises, smell smoke, and see what people around us are doing. Each of these is an example of an observation -- something we have noticed.

10. Ingredients: Thoughts & Observations . . . OBSERVATIONS . . . Since there is so much to observe, we learn to filter out some things and pay close or specific attention to others. Test-anxious persons, research indicates, are inclined to give special attention to certain stimuli in their environment. Let’s turn to two examples: During the exam you might look at a clock or your watch and see that 10 minutes remain. That is a fact -- the clock is accurate and there are only 10 minutes left.

11. Ingredients: Thoughts & Observations . . . OBSERVATIONS . . . You hear and see other test-takers turning in their exams before you are finished. Also a fact. Both of these are simple observations and their accuracy is verifiable by others. Observations in themselves do not pose problems. The things you notice, however, register in your mind and you have reactions to them. You think about them. The test anxious person takes selected observations (10 minutes remain), thinks about them in negative and distorted ways (“I can’t possibly finish”), and then becomes apprehensive or has the fear that something is going to go wrong (“I’m going to flunk”).

12. Ingredients: Thinking Errors Each of us knows that we don't think logically 100% of the time --everyone makes occasional mistakes in their reasoning. Some of these mistakes, what we will call "thinking errors", are so common that logicians have classified and named them. In the Rethink Guide we will identify and explain six basic types of thinking errors. One way that the test anxious person introduces thinking errors is in translating the observations he or she has made into dire forecasts about the future. You, as a test anxious individual, make an irrational jump--sometimes more like a big leap -- from Point A to a Point B that is not truly connected with it.

13. Ingredients: Thinking Errors . . . We will use this language in the chapters ahead to emphasize how you have created just such a gap. The significance of committing thinking errors is that, ultimately, they result in the negative thoughts – worry -- which are the basis for test anxiety.

14. Ingredients: Anxiety Negative Thoughts = Worry All of us hold conversations inside our heads. This internal dialogue has been called "self-talk." When a person is focused on thoughts that are expectations of negative or unwanted outcomes then he or she is said to be "worrying." All test-takers may have some negative thoughts, but research studies repeatedly find that the number and frequency of negative thoughts is greater for high test anxious persons than for low test anxious individuals.

15. Ingredients: Anxiety . . . Negative Thoughts = Worry . . . The central worry -- the very core of test anxiety -- is found in the thought that, "I'm going to fail." When you have the thought that you are doing badly, whether before or during the test, you will tend to have other negative thoughts that follow directly from this one powerful fear. Among your thoughts, as you worry about the future, are: “Significant others will be disappointed or upset with me”; “My future career plans have been shattered”; "I'm stupid", "Something is wrong with me", or similar self-critical and derogatory statements.

16. Ingredients: Anxiety . . . Physical Reactions = Emotionality Human beings sometimes find themselves in situations where they face serious injury or death. . . . At other times, the threat is more imagined than real. . . . In either event, if you believe you are in danger and might be harmed, the various systems in your body are activated to respond. Generally, your body will prepare you to either fight or take flight.

17. Ingredients: Anxiety . . . Physical Reactions = Emotionality . . . A test result is obviously not physically endangering. Nonetheless, as a test anxious person you perceive a threat --failure or unsatisfactory performance that will lead to negative consequences -- and your body reacts accordingly. And very often, test anxious persons first become aware of their anxiety via the physical reactions they experience. In Figure One above, an arrow is drawn from negative thinking to physical responses. Although each can exert influence on the other, the perception or thought that a threat exists occurs first and that, in turn, switches on your autonomic nervous system.

18. Ingredients: Anxiety . . . Physical Reactions = Emotionality . . . High test anxious persons and low test anxious persons can have similar heart rates -- that is, both may be at comparable levels of arousal. The arousal itself, therefore, is not the primary contributor to anxiety but rather it is the attention given to the arousal and the subsequent interpretation made by the individual. The person with high test anxiety will be the one who notices physical signs, becomes absorbed with them, and engages in further self-talk that heightens anxiety. "Oh no, my heart is pounding, I'm shaking, and I've been to the bathroom three times in thirty minutes. I must be really anxious. I just know I'm going to do poorly on the exam."

19. Ingredients: Anxiety Effects Anxiety Effects Let’s repeat this again: it is your negative thoughts (worry), and the thinking errors that precede them, which produce anxiety. Because you are anxious there are a host of thought processes and behaviors that are affected. These anxiety-related effects are what lead directly to impairment in your test performance. Knowledge of anxiety effects can help you to understand the predictability of certain reactions when you are anxious, and make appropriate explanations for the cause of the reactions.

20. Ingredients: Anxiety Effects . . . Anxiety Effects . . . When you recognize anxiety responses for what they are you can think of them as signals or cues to relax, refocus, and engage in more positive and task-relevant thinking. A feedback loop leads from anxiety effects back to observations and results in increased or sustained anxiety. The test-taker realizes that he or she is anxious and then becomes "anxious about being anxious" . These anxiety signs are then interpreted to mean that "something is seriously wrong" . However, this cycle can be interrupted and altered by use of the techniques presented in these Guides.

21. Ingredients: Anxiety Effects . . . Anxiety Effects . . . A checklist of the most common effects reported by test anxious individuals follows this page. We have grouped the items into five general classes. Some of the anxiety effects on the checklist are probably very familiar to you while others you might have infrequently or not at all. Complete the checklist and see which effects you have experienced.

22. Figure 2: Test Anxiety Effects Checklist Attention & Concentration Difficulties • Mind Wanders • Unable to Concentrate • Pay too much Attention to One Part or a Minor Detail • Make Careless Mistakes such as Lose Place on Answer Sheet Fail to Check Work Completely Misread Question(s) Unintentionally Skip a Question Restlessness, Nervous Energy • Pacing • Tapping Foot • Speaking Quickly or Rapidly • Drumming Pencil or Pen on Desk/ Writing Surface Memory Problems • Can’t Easily Remember Material that is Well Learned • Mind Goes Blank Inflexible or Disorganized Problem-Solving • Jumping Around on Test Questions • Staying on One Question an Excessive Amount of Time • Plunging into Exam without Reading Directions Carefully • Beginning to Read or Answer a Question but Doesn’t Finish It

23. Figure 2: Test Anxiety Effects Checklist . . . Avoidance and Escape • Skip Class on Day of Exam • Postpone or Otherwise Delay Taking the Exam • Drop a Class • Give Up and Turn in Test Early • Change Academic Major Each of these Anxiety Effects can interfere with your performance. Now, let’s move on to why these problems arise and how they lead to complications in test-taking.

24. Ingredients: Anxiety Effects . . . Attention & Concentration Difficulties In learning, it is essential to be able to give full attention to the task. When you are doing this, you will feel absorbed in the work at hand. When you are not giving your complete attention, you are “distracted.” In short, your attention is divided between the task (preparing for/taking an exam) and internal/external events that are unrelated to the task. Distractibility is one of the most common problems associated with anxiety. This is most noticeable with difficulties in concentration or paying attention to what you need to focus upon.

25. Ingredients: Anxiety Effects . . . Attention & Concentration Difficulties . . . You can find that your thoughts drift off to something else which may be important to you (e.g., what to eat for lunch, family concerns, how to spend the weekend) but is not relevant to the task before you. Or your negative thoughts compete for attention with your trying to concentrate upon learning principles, concepts, ideas, and facts. External objects and activities can also become major sources of distraction. The clock on the wall, students moving about, and noise outside the test site may claim your attention. Your attention may be expanded to include all manner of stimuli. In any case, you are not fully focused where you need to be at the moment.

26. Ingredients: Anxiety Effects . . . Attention & Concentration Difficulties . . . Making careless mistakes is a common sign of one’s distractibility. When your full attention is not directed to the task, you might misread a question or overlook a right answer. When test-takers realize, often too late, that they have made a simple mistake, they will usually think, “I must not have been paying attention.” They are correct.

27. Ingredients: Anxiety Effects . . . Memory Problems When you are anxious, and trying to learn material, sometimes the information just does not get into your memory. Again, this is a result of being distracted. Information that is not stored in memory cannot be recalled later because you didn't learn it in the first place. The possible effect of this problem, on your test performance, is obvious. Another typical anxiety-related problem is in remembering -- or recalling -- what you have really learned. You may believe that you have forgotten what you thought you knew. The problem in this case is one of retrieval.

28. Ingredients: Anxiety Effects . . . Memory Problems . . . Information has been stored in memory -- you learned it -- but anxiety interferes with getting to the information. It's as if your mental file cabinet is full but the drawers are locked. The possible effect of this problem, on your test performance, is also rather obvious. One way the retrieval/forgetting problem is experienced is when your mind goes "blank" (or you have a “mental block”). However, once you relax, the information is accessible.

29. Ingredients: Anxiety Effects . . . Memory Problems . . . Many test anxious persons report, with some frustration, how much they can remember after the test is over. The explanation for this memory recovery is rather simple: negative and distracting thoughts have been reduced or eliminated. The person relaxes, the pressure is off, and he/she can clearly focus -- the doors to the file cabinet are open again.

30. Ingredients: Anxiety Effects . . . Disorganized or Inflexible Problem Solving Disorganized and inflexible or rigid problem-solving attempts can also stem from anxiety. As your thoughts seem to become scattered, your behavior reflects it accordingly. You might, for example, jump around in answering test questions, start a number of questions without finishing any of them, or write a jumbled response to an essay question. Conversely, you might doggedly stick to one approach (e.g., answer every question in order), or spend an excessive amount of time on a single question. The adverse effects on your test performance, from any of these behaviors, is clear.

31. Ingredients: Anxiety Effects . . . Restlessness / Nervous Energy You can probably remember occasions when you felt restless and seemed to have a lot of "nervous" energy. This is unlike "directed" energy which you pour into a particular task or endeavor. Excess energy seeks an outlet. Therefore, you pace, tap your foot, drum a pencil on the desk, or speak rapidly. Although these actions may not directly interfere with your test performance, they are indications that you are anxious.

32. Ingredients: Anxiety Effects . . . Avoidance and Escape Two classic responses to anxiety are escape (leave or depart a situation after you have entered it) and avoidance (you don't enter the situation to begin with). One way you can escape your test anxiety is by hurriedly going through the exam and then turning it in early. Avoidance, in everyday behavior, can take the form of delaying -- for days, months, or years -- the taking of an exam. You may tend to get sick, say to yourself, "I'm just not ready", or offer any number of excuses. While either of these two strategies may reduce anxiety temporarily, they raise other problems in its place -- like guilt, doubts about your truthfulness, and lack of progress toward worthwhile goals.

33. Ingredients: A Review Now let’s review this section on anxiety effects in three short sentences: Attention and concentration on the tasks of test preparation and test-taking is necessary for effective learning, remembering, and overall performance. The reduction of distractions, which thus permits greater attention to these tasks, is another way to think about how test anxiety can be reduced. The overall goal is to stay focused on the exam. The presence of the anxiety effects we outlined will be diminished when you are able to effectively use the strategies presented in this Guide.

34. REMEMBER Keep the test event in proper perspective: Tests are measures of what you have learned, nothing else. They are not measures of your self-worth. What you are thinking has a direct effect on your anxiety level. Physical responses can be controlled through relaxation. There are common and predictable responses associated with anxiety. Use them as signals to change your thinking, focus, and relax.

35. The Ingredients of Test Anxiety The Ingredients of Test Anxiety is the third in a series of Resource Guides Devoted to helping students conquer their test anxiety. The series is made available by the Enhanced Learning Center of the University of Arkansas Adapted with Permission-9/07: Bihm, E. and Ness, E., University of Central Arkansas.. “Take Charge of Your Test Anxiety: The Five Rs Approach.” Unpublished Manuscript. Arkansas Photographs Used with Permission-11/07: Steve Twaddle, www.arkansasphotographed.com