Measures Of Test Anxiety Research Articles

Test anxiety in children and adolescents

This paper selectively reviews the literature on test anxiety in children and adolescents. Following discussion of the deleterious effects of test anxiety and its prevalence in schools, we examine various factors that contribute to the development of this condition. Test anxiety is also considered in relation to childhood anxiety disorders, with concern being noted for reliability and validity of diagnostic practices. With regard to measures of test anxiety, we focus on the Test Anxiety Scale for Children, the Children's Cognitive Assessment Questionnaire, physiological assessment, and behavioural observation. Reflecting the influence of conditioning principles, several interventions are described and evaluated. Finally, a number of conceptual and methodological limitations are briefly outlined.

Influence of Urban-Rural Upbringing on Nigerian Students' Test Anxiety

To examine the effects of urban and rural upbringing on test anxiety 221 Nigerian high school students completed measures of test anxiety and environment/academic performance. Analysis showed that younger urban groups scored better than older rural groups in academic performance, rural students having high scores in environment/academic performance scales. The findings corroborate earlier work on urban and rural upbringing and text anxiety. Suggestions for cross-cultural research which incorporates test anxiety and the construct of concentration are detailed.

Test anxiety, self-evaluative worry, and sleep disturbance in college students

The present research examined the extent to which sleep disturbance is involved in the experience of test anxiety. In Study 1, a sample of 80 subjects completed a trait measure of test anxiety and ...

Test anxiety components: Comparison of different measures

Abstract The purpose of the study was twofold: To investigate the structure of the test anxiety construct. and to compare the psychometric properties of rating scales versus questionnaire scales of test anxiety. The intercorrelations among fourteen test anxiety measures, representing the one-, two-and four-dimensional models were examined as well as the correlations between those scales and eight measures of test-related perceptions. The sample consisted of 172 undergraduate and graduate students of education. The results indicated that the underlying structure of the test anxiety construct consists of four primary factors. It was noted that the pattern of the relationships among the test anxiety measures remained intact when the broader context, which included also test-related perceptions, was studied. Based on the intra- and intercorrelations among the test anxiety and the test-related perceptions, a speculative causal model for explaining the effect of test anxiety on performance was suggested. The fi...

Test anxiety and causal attributions: Some evidence toward replication

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to examine the nature of causal attributions and their relationship to measures of trait and state test anxiety, and perceptions of success. Eighty-four female undergraduates completed a sentence memory task after which they rated their level of perceived success, generated reasons for their performance, and rated these reasons for their performance along three causal attribution dimensions (internality, stability, globality). Perception of success was related to the three explanatory style dimensions, with internality as the weakest of the three relationships. Although the expected test anxiety-outcome interactions were not found, test anxiety relationships were noted indirectly from both the attribution rating scale analyses and directly from the content analyses. For the former results indicated that the strongest relationships were between test anxiety (trait and state) with perception of success. Content analyses supported the importance of the internality dimension, and supplemented the rating scale analyses. The pattern of findings was interpreted to suggest the importance of task and/or situational variables in the attribution process, a point of recent interest.

Traditional group therapy and computer-administered treatment for test anxiety

Abstract Traditional group therapy for test anxiety, modelled after Weissberg (1976), was compared with the computer-administered treatment of Thoresen, Insel, Roth, Ross, and Seyler (1986). Both treatments contained cognitive and behavioral elements including systematic desensitization and Jacobsonian relaxation techniques. The participants were 36 test-anxious students seeking treatment within a university counseling center. Effectiveness of each treatment was assessed by studying changes in test anxiety (total, worry, emotionality), as measured by the Test Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, 1980). and changes in grade point average (GPA). There was a statistically significant reduction in the three test anxiety measures for both treatments. No significant differences in GPA, as a result of the treatment, were found. There was no significant difference in reduction of test anxiety between the treatments. These findings support the efficacy of the computerized treatment which may be a suitable alternative to group therapy and, in some situations, may be the treatment of choice.

Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance.

A correlational study examined relationships between motivational orientation, self-regulated learning, and classroom academic performance for 173 seventh graders from eight science and seven English classes. A self-report measure of student self-efficacy, intrinsic value, test anxiety, self-regulation, and use of learning strategies was administered, and performance data were obtained from work on classroom assignments. Self-efficacy and intrinsic value were positively related to cognitive engagement and performance. Regression analyses revealed that, depending on the outcome measure, self-regulation, self-efficacy, and test anxiety emerged as the best predictors of performance. Intrinsic value did not have a direct influence on performance but was strongly related to self-regulation and cognitive strategy use, regardless of prior achievement level. The implications of individual differences in motivational orientation for cognitive engagement and self-regulation in the classroom are discussed. Self-regulation of cognition and behavior is an important aspect of student learning and academic performance in the classroom context (Corno & Mandinach, 1983; Corno & Rohrkemper, 1985). There are a variety of definitions of selfregulated learning, but three components seem especially important for classroom performance. First, self-regulated learning includes students' metacognitive strategies for planning, monitoring, and modifying their cognition (e.g., Brown, Bransford, Campione, & Ferrara, 1983; Corno, 1986; Zim

Learned helplessness, test anxiety, and academic achievement: a longitudinal analysis.

The stability of individual differences in test anxiety and learned helplessness over a 2-year period and their relation to concurrent and future school achievement were examined. Several issues regarding the assessment of learned helplessness are also addressed. 82 children were administered measures of test anxiety and helplessness in the third grade and again in the fifth grade. Teachers also provided reports of learned helpless and mastery-oriented behaviors at these 2 grade levels. It was found that: (a) both self-report and teacher-report measures of helplessness were stable over the 2-year period; (b) helplessness in the third grade was related to achievement test scores in the fifth grade; and (c) teacher reports may be a viable means of identifying helplessness. These findings are discussed in terms of cognitive developmental changes in children's understanding of effort and ability, and their implications for the assessment of learned helplessness are outlined.

Effects of coping skills training on generalized self-efficacy and locus of control.

A number of studies have shown that mastery experiences strengthen self-efficacy expectancies that are specific to the mastery situation. In this study I assessed the effects of cognitive-behavioral coping skills training on generalized expectancies concerning self-efficacy and locus of control in test-anxious college students. Compared with a waiting-list control group, the trained subjects exhibited significant decreases on trait and state measures of test anxiety and a higher level of academic performance on classroom tests, as well as changes in specific self-efficacy expectancies relating to test-anxiety management and academic performance. Consistent with generalization predictions derived from self-efficacy theory, the coping skills group also exhibited decreases in general trait anxiety and increased scores on a trait measure of generalized self-efficacy. Locus of control was unaffected by the program, and changes in general self-efficacy were unrelated to changes in locus of control, suggesting the possibility that different parameters of experience are related to changes in the two types of generalized expectancies.

Effects of cognitive monitoring strategies on the test anxieties of elementary students

Sixty-six anxious fourth and fifth graders were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (a) cognitive monitoring training, or (b) control group. Pretreatment, post-treatment, and six-week follow-up measures were obtained on both self-report measures of test anxiety and performance on two separate subtests of the Metropolitan Achievement Test. Analysis of covariance results indicated that there were no significant differences between groups on either the self-report measure of test anxiety or the MAT subtests.

The test-taking expectations scale: Psychometric properties and relations with test anxiety

The present research examined the psychometric properties of the Test-Taking Expectations Scale (TTES), an individual difference measure of unrealistic test-taking expectations. The present research also examined the relations among a revised measure and (a) Sarason's (1984) multi-component test-anxiety measure, (b) academic performance as indexed by actual course grades, and (c) verbal ability as indexed by scores on a vocabulary measure. Reliability and factor analyses employing initial and cross-validation samples revealed that four TTES items have low item-total correlations. The revised TTES, compared to the original measure, was found to be internally consistent, more factorially ‘pure’, and strongly correlated with test anxiety, particularly with tension and worry components. Although the revised TTES did not correlate significantly with measures of academic performance and vocabulary ability, regression analyses showed that the test anxiety and vocabulary measures did predict actual academic performance.

Arousability, trait anxiety and the worry and emotionality components of test anxiety

Abstract Eleventh- and twelfth-grade high-school students (or equivalent subjects in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Brazil) participated in this study. All subjects were administered the Test Anxiety Inventory and the Anxiety/Arousability Inventory in their native language. A confirmatory factor analysis yielded the following conclusions: (1) the measures of trait anxiety arousability, test anxiety (worry), and test anxiety (emotionality) demonstrated high reliability, factorial validity and discriminant validity in each of the four samples; (2) as hypothesized, significant positive correlations were found between all four measures in each of the four samples; (3) analyses of invariance supported the invariance of factor loadings and factor true variances across three cultural groups: Egypt, Brazil and the USA. (Saudi Arabia was eliminated from the invariance analysis because the sample was all male.) Analyses of invariance did not support the invariance of error/uniquenesses and factor correlations.

Internal dialogue during academic examinations

Research from actual classroom examinations has provided equivocal support for the hypothesized relationship between test anxiety and thought content during evaluative tasks, whereas data from analogue studies consistently yield support for this relationship. In order to explicate this discrepancy, the present study assessed thought content during actual examinations by means of a measure utilized in analogue research—a measure of negative thought frequency. Furthermore, the study extended previous research by exploring performance, cognitive, and affective factors associated with a negative internal dialogue. Ninety-six university students completed a test anxiety measure at the beginning of the term, a cognitive appraisal questionnaire before each of five exams, and the Cognitive Interference Questionnaire immediately following each exam. Results indicated that test anxiety was significantly related to the frequency of negative thoughts on four of five exams. Past performance, grade expectations, subjective importance of the exam, perceived preparedness, and state anxiety influenced students' cognitions at different points in the term. Analyses investigating the test-retest reliability of students' CIQ scores suggested that negative thinking under examination stress may constitute a personality dimension that is separate from test anxiety.

Measurement of test anxiety among selected black adolescents: Appropriateness of four anxiety scales

In an effort to determine the appropriateness of three already available anxiety measures and one newly developed measure for use with low-achieving minority- group adolescents, this study explored the reliability and validity for four self- report anxiety scales. The Test Anxiety Scale for Children (TASC), the Alpert-Haber Achievement Anxiety Scale for Children (AASC), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC), and a newly developed Reading Anxiety Scale (RAS), in which was embedded the Lie Scale for Children (LSC), were administered to 60 seventh- grade black students. Internal consistency reliability estimates are moderate to moderately high. Significant intercorrelations ( p<.05) were found among the scales except for the A-State (state anxiety) subscale of the STAIC, which correlated significantly only with the RAS. No scale was found to be redundant with any other scale. The scales differentiated anxiety levels but did not operate differentially on the basis of gender. Conclusions are drawn regarding the appropriateness of using these scales with some minority-group adolescents.

A comparison of the coping and restructuring components of cognitive restructuring

Cognitive restructuring can be thought of as having two goals: a coping goal, in which individuals learn to cope more effectively with a stressful situation using such means as coping self-statements, and a restructuring goal, in which individuals change their beliefs about events, so that formerly stressful situations will no longer be stressful. These two goals were contrasted in a treatment outcome study employing test-anxious subjects who were assigned (a) to a coping treatment, which taught coping self-statements to be used in a test situation, (b) to a restructuring treatment, which involved discussion of general beliefs about evaluation, or (c) to a waiting list control. Outcome measures of test anxiety, irrational beliefs, and thoughts 1 hour before a final exam each showed treatment effects. Though the treated groups did not differ from each other on these measures, the coping group showed more improvement relative to the control group. The results for the two cognitive measures, chosen to reflect the different goals of the two treatments, did not directly correspond to treatment content, suggesting that the change processes resulting from a treatment cannot be predicted from the content of the treatment procedures alone.

Test anxiety, academic performance, and cognitive appraisals.

The impact of test anxiety on test performance and the cognitive appraisals of test-anxious students were explored. To overcome limitations of previous research, state and dispositional measures of test anxiety were used over repeated performance trials. Sixty-two students who were enrolled in an undergraduate statistics course that required multiple examinations served as subjects. The students' expectations, thoughts, and performance were assessed at each of the four exam occasions. Results indicated that test anxiety was related to poor test performance both early and late in the term. When state anxiety levels were controlled for, the test anxiety-test performance relation was apparent only during the later stages of the course. The pattern of students' anxiety and appraisals suggests that test-anxious students experience most doubt and concern early in the term. The implications of these findings for theories of test anxiety are discussed.

Worry and emotionality components of test anxiety.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between trait measures of Worry and Emotionality and test anxiety related variables. Ninety-eight undergraduate students completed the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) and the following self-report measures toward the end of the psychology exam: Checklist of Positive and Negative Thought, Checklist of Body Sensations (CBS), and Subjective Units of Discomfort Scale (SUDS). Further, the students' scores on the psychology exam and the students' grade point averages (GPA) served as outcome measures of test anxiety. In general the results supported the discriminant validity of the Worry and Emotionality subscales of the TAI. Worry was found to be correlated with measures of internal dialogue and Emotionality was found to be correlated with the self-reported arousal measures.

Grade, sex, and race differences in test anxiety.

Analyses of scores derived from an internally consistent 15-item measure of test anxiety for 181 students in Grade 4 and 258 in Grade 8 did not show significant mean differences across grade, but statistically higher scores were noted for girls and black students. The practical implications of the differences were considered limited.

Discriminant and Concurrent Validity of Two Commonly Used Measures of Test Anxiety

For each of two groups of 34 and 71 undergraduate college students respectively categorized as clinically test anxious (CTA sample) and as non-test anxious (NTA sample), evidence was sought regarding the discriminant validity and the concurrent validity of each of two measures—the 20-item self-report Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) and the 8-item behavior analogue measure of test-taking performance entitled Anagram Solution Task. Normative information was also obtained for each measure to provide a basis for classifying students as being test anxious or as being non-test anxious. The statistical outcomes led to the conclusion that both the TAI and AST exhibit substantial discriminant validity, but relatively little concurrent validity. The creation of 90% confidence scoring intervals for each of the two measures shows considerable promise as a means for identifying students with differential levels of test anxiety. These instruments appear to afford a basis for both counseling and research purposes. Future directions in the assessment of test anxiety are discussed.

Relationships between Rational beliefs and anxiety

The relationships between rationality, as measured by the recently developed Rational Behavior Inventory (RBI), and several commonly used measures of anxiety are examined in both a general student sample (N =144) and a clinically tested anxious sample (N =34). Although differing aspects of rationality were related to anxiety for the two groups, consistent negative correlations were found between specific irrational beliefs and measures of test, state, and trait anxiety. The observed relationships of decreased rationality associated with increased levels of anxiety lend support to the theoretical basis of cognitive restructuring forms of therapy, and to the concurrent validity of the RBI.