Taming Test Anxiety: The Activation of Failure-Related Concepts Enhances Cognitive Test Performance of Test-Anxious Students

Abstract

We investigated processes underlying performance decrements of highly test-anxious persons. Three experiments contrasted conditions that differed in the degree of activation of concepts related to failure. Participants memorized a list of words either containing words related to failure or containing no words related to failure in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, all participants initially memorized words related to failure, but one experimental condition subsequently required the intentional forgetting of these words, thereby, decreasing the words’ activation in memory. The performance of highly test-anxious participants in unannounced cognitive ability tests following the memorizing phase profited from the activation of failure-related concepts. Experiment 3 replicated this finding by contrasting a condition priming failure–related concepts with a neutral control condition. The results point to a mechanism of suppressing worrying thoughts that is detrimental to test performances of highly test-anxious persons. Bringing the feared threat of failure to their awareness prevents that suppression.

Keywords:

• achievement
• anxiety
• emotion
• individual differences
• personality
• testing

Notes

¹The originally German items to assess self-standards, anxiety, and worry were Wie gut wollten Sie bei der Ergänzung der Wortstämme und der Lösung der Analogien sein? (0 = durchschnittlich, 7 = ausgezeichnet); Wie viel Angst hatten Sie vor den Wortstämmen und Analogien? (0 = überhaupt keine, 7 = extrem große); and Wie stark haben Sie Sorgen über Ihre Leistung beschäftigt? (0 = überhaupt nicht, 7 = extrem stark)

²The originally German failure-related words in Experiment 1 were Misserfolg, Versagen, Enttäuschung, Scheitern, Pleite, Debakel. The neutral words were: Kunststoff, Pappe, Stein, Zement, Metall, Plastik.

³It might be of interest whether gender influenced the results in Experiment 1. Unfortunately, the low number of men (16) violates prerequisites of ANOVA tests and can distort results if gender is entered as a factor. We nevertheless included gender as an additional factor in an exploratory analysis. Gender did not moderate any effect, F(1, 67) < 1.47, p >.231.

⁴As an alternative statistical approach, multiple regression with interaction terms was used (Jaccard & Turrisi, 2003). The same variables as in the above ANCOVAs entered as predictors. Trait worry was z standardized and entered as a continuous predictor. In Experiment 1, the predictor concept activation was coded with -1 and 1, as was the word-stem completion condition. Age entered as a covariate. The interaction of concept activation and trait worry was also in this analysis statistically significant, β =.26, p =.022. In Experiment 2, the predictor condition was coded with -1 and 1, as was gender. Age entered as a covariate. With regard to modular arithmetic performance, the interaction of condition and trait worry was also in this analysis statistically significant, β =.27, p =.019. With regard to the number of correctly solved matrices, it was not, β =.13, p =.328. In Experiment 3, the predictor priming condition was coded with -1 and 1, as were gender and testing order. Age entered as a covariate. The interaction of condition and trait worry was also in this analysis statistically significant, β =.26, p =.033.

⁵The originally German failure-related words in Experiment 2 were Ärger, Enttäuschung, Scham, Trauer, Unglück, Versagen. The neutral achievement-related words were Anstrengung, Beruf, Bewertung, Hochschule, Lernen, Studieren

⁶The originally German failure-related words in Experiment 3 were Angst, Debakel, Druck, Enttäuschung, Fehlschlag, Konsequenzen, Misserfolg, Misslingen, Pessimismus, Pleite, Reinfall, Rückschlag, Scheitern, Selbstzweifel, Sorgen, Traurigkeit, Unsicherheit, Versagen, Zukunft, Zweifel. The neutral words were Anis, Backpulver, Butter, Frucht, Guss, Haselnuss, Hefe, Kakao, Mandeln, Margarine, Mehl, Nelken, Orangeat, Puderzucker, Rosinen, Sahne, Schokolade, Vanillezucker, Zimt, Zitrone.