Test Anxiety Questionnaire Research Articles

Learning potential and anxious tendency: Test anxiety as a bias factor in educational testing

Contrary to conventional educational testing, in so-called dynamic assessment subjects are allowed to consult help during testing or are offered prior training. The differential results of both testing procedures are sometimes ascribed to the idea that dynamic tests reflect the breadth of the zone of proximal development on top of independent achievement. Alternative explanations claim that conventional tests are more strongly biased towards various characteristics of persons, which have a negative influence on performance, when compared to dynamic tests. In this study, it was hypothesised that static as well as dynamic assessment is biased towards anxious tendencies of subjects, but the former more strongly than the latter. In order to investigate this supposition, the performance of subjects on dynamic and static tests was systematically compared and related to measures of test anxiety in a longitudinal experiment. In the experiment, repeated measures of independent mathematics achievement as well as mathematics learning potential were gathered among students of secondary education in the Netherlands. Prior to every mathematics test, subjects filled out a test anxiety questionnaire. After every mathematics test, subjects filled out a general state anxiety questionnaire. The participating subjects were students from secondary education, either preparing for higher vocational training or university, aged approximately 15 years on average. The results of the experiment showed that lack of self-confidence is an important constituent factor of test anxiety, apart from worry and emotionality. The data supported the assumption that such testing procedures are less biased towards anxiety than conventional tests, but it was not established that dynamic testing procedures render results that are not biased by test anxious tendencies.

Efficacy of Bach-flower remedies in test anxiety: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial with partial crossover

Bach-flower remedies are a type of alternative medication used increasingly for over-the-counter self-help purposes. We studied the efficacy of a combination of Bach-flower remedies in subjects with test anxiety in a randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded parallel group design, with crossing over the placebo group to remedies after the first phase. Anxiety was measured by a standardized, validated test anxiety questionnaire (the German version of the Test Anxiety Inventory, TAI-G). Fifty-five of 61 subjects with self-reported test anxiety gave valid data. There was no significant difference between the groups, but a significant decrease of test anxiety in all groups was present. We conclude that Bach-flower remedies are an effective placebo for test anxiety and do not have a specific effect.

The predictive and discriminant validity of the zone of proximal development

Dynamic measurement procedures are supposed to uncover the zone of proximal development and to increase predictive validity in comparison to conventional, static measurement procedures. Two alternative explanations for the discrepancies between static and dynamic measurements were investigated. The first focuses on Vygotsky's learning potential theory, the second considers the role of anxiety tendency during test taking. If test anxious tendencies are mitigated by dynamic testing procedures, in particular the availability of assistance, the concept of the zone of proximal development may be superfluous in explaining the differences between the outcomes of static and dynamic measurement. Participants were students from secondary education in the Netherlands. They were tested repeatedly in grade three as well as in grade four. Participants were between 14 and 17 years old; their average age was 15.4 years with a standard deviation of .52. Two types of mathematics tests were used in a longitudinal experiment. The first type of test consisted of open-ended items, which participants had to solve completely on their own. With the second type of test, assistance was available to participants during the test. The latter so-called learning test was conceived of as a dynamic testing procedure. Furthermore, a test anxiety questionnaire was administered repeatedly. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. Apart from emotionality and worry, lack of self-confidence appears to be an important constituent of test anxiety. The learning test appears to contribute to the predictive validity of conventional tests and thus a part of Vygotsky's claims were substantiated. Moreover, the mere inclusion of a test anxiety factor into an explanatory model for the gathered data is not sufficient. Apart from test anxiety and mathematical ability it is necessary to assume a factor which may be construed as mathematics learning potential. The results indicate that the observed differences between a conventional, static testing procedure and an experimental, dynamic testing procedure for mathematics cannot be explained sufficiently by a differential bias towards test anxiety. The dynamic testing approach renders scores which add to the predictive validity of conventional testing procedures. Since this gain in predictive validity is not a result of the removal of bias towards test anxiety, this result should be understood as supportive for the validity of the concept of the zone of proximal development.

Effect of relaxation or exercise on undergraduates' test anxiety.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether test anxiety could be significantly reduced through regular practice of relaxation exercises or physical exercise. Test anxiety was assessed at pretest and posttest using the 37-item true-false Test Anxiety Questionnaire developed by Sarason. 47 undergraduate students self-selected to participate. The 9 subjects in the group who engaged in a nonmeditative relaxation exercise 3 times per week for 7 weeks showed a significant decline in test anxiety. The 16 subjects in a supervised aerobic dance class 3 times per week for 7 weeks improved their fitness and their test anxiety significantly declined. The 20 control subjects did not meet over the 7-week study ahd showed no significant change in test anxiety, fitness, or relaxation.

Desensitization of test anxious urban community-college students and resulting changes in grade point average: a replication.

Ninety-seven self-referred students applied for enrollment in a behavior modification program to reduce test anxiety. Those whose free time coincided with the workshop times served as the experimental group (N = 42), while the remainder served as the control group (N = 55). At the end of the treatment semester, results indicated that students who participated in the program had improved their academic averages more than the control group, as measured by Mann-Whitney U test. After the workshop series, the experimental group reported less debilitating anxiety than the control group, as measured by the Alpert-Haber Test Anxiety Questionnaire. There was no comparable finding for facilitating anxiety. These results support those reported by Hudesman and Wiesner (1979) on a similar sample.

Gender, grade point average, and test anxiety.

The present study assessed the effect of gender on test anxiety and grade point average (GPA) among 40 college students. Subjects reported their GPAs and responded to a test-anxiety questionnaire. Analysis of covariance indicated that gender did not affect GPA after an adjustment was made for differences in test anxiety. However, gender produced a significant effect on test anxiety following an adjustment for GPA differences, with women reporting significantly more test anxiety than men. The results were discussed in terms of anxiety's motivating capabilities.

A comparison of three measures of the motive to avoid failure:

Individual's motive to avoid failure has typically been assessed by one of three different measures, the Hostile Press scoring system, the Test Anxiety Questionnaire, and Resultant Achievement Motivation. The present research tested the ability of these three measures to predict the two major behavioral criteria of the motive to avoid failure: defensiveness on level of aspiration tasks, and choice of extreme (high or low) probability of success tasks rather than intermediate level of difficulty tasks. Subjects completed the Thematic Apperception Test, which was scored for need for Achievement and the Hostile Press measure of fear of failure. Subjects also completed the Test Anxiety Questionnaire, the Achievement Test Preference Questionnaire, and an anagram level of aspiration task. The results demonstrated that only the Hostile Press measure was significantly related to the two behavioral criteria, and led the authors to conclude that the Hostile Press measure should be used in future assessment of the fear-of-failure motive.

Desensitization of test anxiety: hypnosis compared with biofeedback.

Abstract Two groups of college students scoring high on a test anxiety questionnaire were treated by desensitization under hypnosis or desensitization after relaxation training with biofeedback. Both groups showed significant reduction of test anxiety after treatment when compared with a noncontact control group (p > .01), but there was no difference between groups. In economy of time and effort hypnosis was superior.

Hope of success and fear of failure components of Mehrabian's scales of resultant achievement motivation

This report is concerned with the factor structure and psychometric properties of the nonprojective Male and Female scales of Resultant Achievement Motivation (RAM) developed by Mehrabian ( Educational and Psychological Measurement, 1968, 28, 493–503). The 26-item self-report scales along with Mandler and Sarason's ( Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1952 , 47, 166–173) Test Anxiety Questionnaire (TAQ) were administered to 237 males and 225 females in Experiment 1. Unrestricted maximum likelihood factor analyses of the RAM scales revealed four primary factors for each version. Since the first two factors from both analyses resembled measures of Hope of Success and Fear of Failure, two strategies for improving the scales were adopted, both of which eliminated the items loading on factors III and IV. One strategy involved adding the indexes of Hope of Success and Fear of Failure, while the other involved finding their difference. Construct validity coefficients were computed for the 26-item full scales, and the RAM measures formed using the above strategies with student grade point average and TAQ scores as the criterion variables. In Experiment 2, the appropriate RAM scale and the TAQ were administered to 30 males and 38 females. Construct validity coefficients were computed in this cross validation sample with the three RAM measures as predictors and with TAQ scores and student achievement in a course in Social/Personality Psychology as the criterion variables. The three RAM measures were used to predict the performance of 16 males who worked at a common laboratory task (anagrams) in Experiment 3. The results of all three experiments indicate the Hope of Success minus Fear of Failure measure to be the best measure of RAM from a theoretical, psychometric, and pragmatic point of view.

Motivational Determinants of Decision-Making in a Triadic Coalition Game

Summary A triadic coalition game was structured as an achievement-oriented situation by inclusion of a skill-based game task. Deductions regarding coalition partner choices were derived from Atkinsons' model of achievement motivation with the expectation that achievement-oriented players (Ms < Maf) would prefer moderate-risk strategy options while failure-avoidant players (Maf < Ms) would avoid moderate-risk strategies. Observation was made of the coalition partner preferences of 126 college sophomore males and females who played the game in same-sex triads. The Ss were categorized into motive configuration groups on the basis of scores derived from the Test of Insight and the Test Anxiety Questionnaire. The results were supportive of the hypotheses, since the Ms < Maf group chose moderate-risk coalition options more frequently than did the Maf < Ms group. By contrast the Maf < Ms group chose low-risk strategies and tended to avoid moderate-risk coalition options. While other coalition-game studies have s...

The Self-Consciousness Scale: A Discriminant Validity Study

A recent Self-Consciousness Scale (SCS) measures Private and Public Self-Consciousness and Social Anxiety. The present research was intended to establish discriminant validity for the two Self-consciousness components with respect to several other variables. 105 male undergraduates completed the SCS, the Otis Test of Mental Ability, an abbreviated Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (measuring need for achievement), a Test Anxiety Questionnaire, and the EASI Temperament Survey. Private Self-consciousness did not correlate significantly with any other measure. Public Self-consciousness correlated weakly with the temperaments of Sociability and Emotionality. The Self-consciousness components of the SCS thus appear to be relatively independent of the other measures tested.

The Validity of Some Alternative Measures of Achievement Motivation

Two tests commonly used in research on achievement motivation, the Thematic Apperception Test and the Test Anxiety Questionnaire, have been criticized for a number of shortcomings involving reliability, validity, and ease of scoring. The present study examines the retrospective validity of two alternate measures which appear to overcome many of the objections to the former tests. These alternate measures are the n-Ach scale of the Personality Research Form and the Debilitating Anxiety scale of the Achievement Anxiety Test. An analysis of variance comparing the relative academic achievement of two samples of college students was performed through using high and low scoring comparisons on the two measures. The results showed that academic achievement was significantly related to scores on the tests. The alternate measures are therefore recommended to researchers for further study of achievement motivation.

Prediction of Persistence and Performance With the Hermans Prestatic Motivation Test

Hermans' Prestatic Motivation Test, a questionnaire measure of achievement motivation, is easier to administer and to score than are its projective counterparts, the Thematic Apperception Test and the French Test of Insight; and it need not be administered under controlled conditions. In two independent studies of its predictive validity, Hermans' measure was found to be positively related to persistence and to performance in academic examinations, both when the measure was used alone and when it was combined with the Mandler-Sarason Test Anxiety Questionnaire as a measure of resultant motivation. Moreover, although the French Test of Insight was found to be related to persistence as in earlier research, it was not related to Hermans' measure. It is concluded that Hermans' questionnaire taps a psychological characteristic that is manifest in achievement directed behavior, but that this characteristic is something other than the achievement motive of McClelland and his colleagues.

The Comparative Validity of the Mandler-Sarason Test Anxiety Questionnaire and the Achievement Anxiety Test

The validity of the Mandler-Sarason Test Anxiety Questionnaire (TAQ) and its subscales, (anxiety about taking individual intelligence tests (AII), anxiety about taking group intelligence tests (AGI), and anxiety about taking course examinations (ACE), was compared with the validity of the two subscales of the Academic Achievement Test (AAT), Debilitating Anxiety (Deb), and Facilitating Anxiety (Fac), against the criterion of cumulative grade point average (CGPA) in a college population. The subscales whose item content was directed at measuring anxiety about taking academic examinations, correlated significantly with the criterion measure, but the other subscales did not. The Deb scale had the highest numerical correlation. The total TAQ score was significantly related to the criterion in the male sample but not in the female sample.

An adjusted measure of achievement motivation for males and females and effects of future orientation on level of performance

An adjusted measure of achievement motivation was devised with the combined use of the Mehrabian Achievement Scale ( Educational and Psychological Measurement, 1968 , 28, 493–502) and the Mandler and Sarason ( Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1952 , 47, 166–173) Test Anxiety Questionnaire. Contingent instructions, in which Ss were told success on a test was necessary to qualify for opportunities to succeed on subsequent tests, were contrasted to performance in equivalent noncontingent situations and relative to adjusted achievement motivation for both male and female subjects. In noncontingent situations Ss were told performance on any one test did not affect their opportunity to take subsequent tests. Support was obtained for the use of the above mentioned scales as a predictor of performance for both sexes but not for the Mehrabian by itself. Both male and female Ss high in achievement motivation consistently scored significantly higher than Ss low in achievement motivation in all conditions. The expected interactions between treatments and motive groups were not found but t tests between extreme motive groups within conditions revealed significant differences in the expected directions. These results do not provide statistically reliable support to the elaborated theory of achievement motivation.

Reduction of test anxiety via autogenic therapy.

To evaluate the role of active and passive instructions to Ss given abbreviated training with Schultz and Luthe's six exercises, 18 Ss completed the test anxiety questionnaire and the Wonderlic Personnel Test. Analyses of repeated (two) measures showed treatment decreased test anxiety scores somewhat more for active Ss; 78% of Ss reported high relaxation was achieved and improved performance.

Effect of Achievement Motivation and Social Environment on Risk Taking

Abstract The effects of achievement motivation and competitive environment on the risk taking choices of Ss performing a motor task were investigated. Fifty achieve success Ss and 50 avoid failure Ss (selected by the French Test of Insight and the Test Anxiety Questionnaire) practiced a modified shuffleboard task from which empirical probabilities of success were found for each S. Ss were randomly placed into 1 of 5 competitive treatment levels—alone, presence of others, interpersonal competition, intergroup competition, and interpersonal and intergroup competition. Each S was given 20 free choice trials. Achieve-success Ss perferred intermediate risk choices to a significantly greater extent than avoid failure Ss and supported risk taking theory. Avoid failure Ss also preferred extreme risk choices to a significantly greater extent than low or intermediate risk. No competitive treatment effects were noted.

Some Effects of Fear of Failure in the Academic Setting

Summary This study investigated some of the effects of a fear of failure that is related to self-esteem. The Test Anxiety Questionnaire (TAQ) and the Self-Esteem Contingency Questionnaire (SEC) were administered to the Ss; the SEC measured the extent to which the S's self-esteem is contingent on academic achievement. The Ss were 49 American male college students, and an S was classified as having fear of failure if he scored high on both the SEC and the TAQ. It was expected that the fear of failure group would have an approachavoidance conflict about academic pursuits, and measures reflecting this conflict were administered to the Ss. The results provided partial confirmation for our expectations in that the High SEC group as compared to the Low SEC group had a higher n Ach score, was more compulsive about studying and considered academic degrees as being very important. Furthermore, the fear of failure group (High TAQHigh SEC) tended to have a lower self-esteem and a more negative attitude towards colleg...

The Effects of Test Anxiety and Success/Failure on Mathematics Performance in Grade Eight

Scales of general anxiety and test anxiety have been employed to study effects of anxiety on cognitive performance in numerous studies. Kirkland (1971) asserts that one reason why anxiety studies sustain the interest of researchers is the conflicting findings of these studies. Age level, intelligence level, task difficulty, degree of stress situation, and sex differences combined with type of anxiety measuring instrument are some of the factors that contribute to such conflicting findings. The problem is compounded by contrasting conceptions of anxiety as a trait or state variable as observed by Sieber (1969). The instability of anxiety as a factor in learning is illustrated in three studies of anxiety and intelligence. Denny (1966), using the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, found that at the high intelligence level the high-anxiety group deduced attributes of a concept significantly better than the low-anxiety group, but at the low intelligence level the highanxiety group performed less ably than the low-anxiety group. Mazzei and Goulet (1969) replicated Denny's study but employed the Test Anxiety Questionnaire instead of the Taylor scale. They also obtained a significant interaction between anxiety and intelligence but in a direction opposite to that of Denny's findings. In contrast to both of these significant interactions, Sarason and Hill (1966) conducted a five-year longitudinal study beginning with children in grades one and two and found that only 3 of 58 interactions between anxiety (Test Anxiety Scale for Children) and intelligence on measures of academic performance were significant. The importance of stress situations in anxiety studies is underlined by Katchmar, Ross, and Andrews (1958). They found that anxiety had no significant effect on performance during prestress trials, but after stress was introduced by failure on a task, high-anxiety subjects' performance was poorer, while low-anxiety subjects' performance improved. The absence of stress in the learning of mathematics with programed

The Effects of Test Anxiety and Success/Failure on Mathematics Performance in Grade Eight

Scales of general anxiety and test anxiety have been employed to study effects of anxiety on cognitive performance in numerous studies. Kirkland (1971) asserts that one reason why anxiety studies sustain the interest of researchers is the conflicting findings of these studies. Age level, intelligence level, task difficulty, degree of stress situation, and sex differences combined with type of anxiety measuring instrument are some of the factors that contribute to such conflicting findings. The problem is compounded by contrasting conceptions of anxiety as a trait or state variable as observed by Sieber (1969). The instability of anxiety as a factor in learning is illustrated in three studies of anxiety and intelligence. Denny (1966), using the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, found that at the high intelligence level the high-anxiety group deduced attributes of a concept significantly better than the low-anxiety group, but at the low intelligence level the highanxiety group performed less ably than the low-anxiety group. Mazzei and Goulet (1969) replicated Denny's study but employed the Test Anxiety Questionnaire instead of the Taylor scale. They also obtained a significant interaction between anxiety and intelligence but in a direction opposite to that of Denny's findings. In contrast to both of these significant interactions, Sarason and Hill (1966) conducted a five-year longitudinal study beginning with children in grades one and two and found that only 3 of 58 interactions between anxiety (Test Anxiety Scale for Children) and intelligence on measures of academic performance were significant. The importance of stress situations in anxiety studies is underlined by Katchmar, Ross, and Andrews (1958). They found that anxiety had no significant effect on performance during prestress trials, but after stress was introduced by failure on a task, high-anxiety subjects' performance was poorer, while low-anxiety subjects' performance improved. The absence of stress in the learning of mathematics with programed