Individual differences in students' retention of knowledge and conceptual structures learned in university and high school courses: the case of test anxiety

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to assess individual differences in students' retention of knowledge several years after studying the material. Assessment of retention of materials as a function of students' test anxiety can allow one to evaluate whether high test-anxious students' original deficient academic performance and organization of the materials are due to a retrieval deficit or a deficit in learning and knowledge organization. In two studies, students with different test-anxiety levels completed tasks that enabled us to evaluate both students' levels of knowledge and their cognitive organization of the materials. The tasks were administered either at the end of the course, or at different retention intervals up to 7 years after the end of learning. Results indicated that whereas high test-anxious students tested at the end of the courses performed worse than other students on tests of knowledge and cognitive organization, high test-anxious students tested at various retention intervals after the courses performed as well as other students. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.