The Ingredients of
Test Anxiety
The Ingredients of
Test Anxiety
Test anxiety, as we pointed out
earlier, has two main components-worry and emotionality.
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.
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.
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 .
Figure 1: The Components of Test Anxiety
Thoughts
Negative Thoughts
Anxiety Effects
Observations & Beliefs
(Worry)
Before & During the Test
FAILURE
Can’t Concentrate
No Future
Careless Mistakes
About the Test, Self & Others
Task Relevant & Irrelevant
Disapproval
Physical Reactions
(Emotionality)
Heart Rate
Sweating
Muscle Tension
Blank Mind
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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”).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
...
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."
...
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
(a) understand the predictability of
certain reactions when you are
anxious, and
(b) make appropriate explanations for
the cause of the reactions.
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 taskrelevant 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.
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.
Figure 2: Test Anxiety Effects Checklist
ATTENTION & CONCENTRATION DIFFICULTIES
MEMORY PROBLEMS
 Mind Wanders
 Unable to Concentrate
 Pay too much Attention to One Part or a Minor
 Can’t Easily Remember Material that is Well
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ingredients: A Review
Now let’s review this section on anxiety
effects in three short sentences:
1.
2.
3.
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.
REMEMBER
Keep the test event in proper perspective: Tests are measures of what
you have learned, nothing else. They are not measures of your selfworth.
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.
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