Cognitive intereference and test anxiety of the Japanese private university students

Abstract

The Thought Occurrence Questionnaire (TOQ) and Reactions to Test (RTT) which were developed by Sarason were administered to 123 college students. Sixty two students were successful candidates of the entrance examination of Doshisha University (E) . The other students (NE) were candidates recommended for admission by high school. They did not take the entrance examination. The TOQ responses of 2 groups were factor analyzed separately, and score of each factor was correlated to the subscales of the RTT. The result of factor analysis of the NE subjects' TOQ was quite similar to that of Sarason et al. (1986), but the E subjects' result showed a different factor structure. For the NE group, Factor 3 of TOQ (Thoughts of escape from the task) and RTT subscores indicated the highest relationships similar to previous studies. As to E group, however, Factor 2 of TOQ (Task relevant worries) and Worry and Task Irrelevant Thinking scales of RTT correlated at the 5% level; other correlations were not siginificant. These results indicate the strong influence of Japanese university entrance examinations on the candidates' cognitive performance.