Correlates, Causes, Effects, and Treatment of Test Anxiety

“When examining components of test anxiety, it was predicted that cognitive obstruction (Hembree, 1988) would have the strongest, negative relationship with test performance in comparison to physiological tenseness and social derogation with the same variables controlled for in the previous question.”

“Previous work with test anxiety and the CTAS in particular have routinely identified that females hold higher levels of anxiety over tests (Cassady & Johnson, 2002; Hembree, 1988).”

“It is important for students to learn to manage their anxiety, as anxiety can be detrimental at school and university, for example, in the form of test-anxiety (Hembree, 1988).”

“However, meta-analytic findings suggest that both forms of anxiety are important affective reactions to consider as they display negative relations with test performance (Hausknecht et al., 2004; Hembree, 1988).”

“[8] Hembree R.”

“Women report higher degrees of test anxiety (e.g. Chapell et al., 2005; Hembree, 1988).”

“…of demographics (e.g., age, gender), task characteristics (e.g., difficulty, administration), and situational factors (e.g., feedback, time pressure) on the relationship between cognitive test anxiety and examination performance (for reviews of moderating factors see Hembree, 1988; Zeidner, 1998).”

“One result of this evolution is that the distinction between the cognitive (Worry) and affective (Emotionality) dimensions of test anxiety is now widely accepted (Hembree, 1988).”

“…characterized as a mental state that includes behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and/or bodily reactions (McIlroy, Bunting, & Adamson, 2000; see Hembree, 1988 for a review), and (ii) performance-avoidance goals, characterized as one’s desire to not perform poorly on measures of achievement…”

“Test performance is typically inversely related to levels of test anxiety (Clark, Fox, & Schneider, 1998; Hembree, 1988; Musch & Bröder, 1999; Powers, 2001), which means that more highly test-anxious students will be likely to receive more frequent negative feedback when using the IFAT.”

“This may have raised concerns about their exact role, resulting in an increased fear of evaluation among test participants (cf. Hembree 1988).”

“Much of the importance of the test anxiety construct can be attributed to the robust and well-replicated fi nding that test anxiety is associated with lower performance in tests and examinations (for example, Cassady & Johnson, 2002; Chapell et al., 2005; Hembree, 1988).”

“…Carlson, Goforth, Von der Embse, & Barterian, 2013), challenges with learning new material (Chapell et al., 2005), lack of motivation, negative self-evaluation, struggles with concentration (Swanson & Howell, 1996), grade retention (Hembree, 1988), and dropout (Chapell et al., 2005; Tobias, 1979).”

“Meta-analyses of studies conducted on high-school and college students identified a closer association between MA and TA, while GA emerged as more clearly distinct from either MA or TA (Dew, Galassi, & Galassi, 1984; Hembree, 1988, 1990; see also Lauer, Esposito, & Bauer, 2018).”

“Although this relationship is consistent with other research (Hembree, 1988), its nature is unclear.”

“This may relate to the cognitive interference caused by anxiety (Zeidner and Matthews, 2005), which is negatively related to encoding, information storing, and processing (Hembree, 1998; Zeidner, 2014), and thus may deter selfreflection.”

“Test anxiety is associated with decreased academic performance, lower motivation and self-efficacy, and generalized anxiety (Hembree, 1988; King, Mietz, Tinney, & Ollendick, 1995; Putwain, 2007; Raffety, Smith, & Ptacek, 1997).”

“As a consequence, negative activating emotions are related negatively to learning and achievement (e.g., Burić & Sorić, 2012; Dettmers et al., 2011; Hembree, 1998; Zeidner, 1998).”

“According to Hembree ( 1988 ) more than 20% of college students experience this problem with tension or uneasiness occurring before, during or after an exam.”

“…to cognitive concerns about test taking and performance, such as negative expectations, preoccupation with performance, and potential consequences, which include the symptoms of self-critical, fear of failing, overwhelmed, and ‘‘going blank’’ (De¤enbacher 1980; Hembree 1988; Morris et al. 1981).”

“One possibility overlooked by Alpert and Haber, Kleinmann, Scovel and others, is that observations of facilitating and debilitating anxiety are actually different ends of the same anxiety continuum (Hembree, 1988).”

“Meta-analyses have evidenced a negative relation between test anxiety, especially its cognitive component (worries about failure and its consequences), and educational achievement (e.g., Hembree 1988; von der Embse et al.”

“A substantial body of studies has coherently shown negative consequences of test anxiety: Test anxiety is strongly related to lower test grades and underachievement (Hembree 1988; Keogh et al. 2004), lower motivation (Hancock 2001), lower problem solving confidence (Parkinson and Creswell 2011), and more internalizing…”

“A brief review of the literature on the relationship between affective states and learning signals clearly that, until the 1990s, the role of affective states in learning was largely ignored, with rare exceptions, such as a number of studies on anxiety prior to taking tests and examinations, which began in the 1930s (…”

“Increased test anxiety is related to lower academic achievement and test performance (Hembree, 1988; von der Embse & Hasson, 2012).”

“Test anxiety shows a negative relation with various measures of academic performance, including class grades and examination marks, that is typically stronger for the worry component (Hembree, 1988; von der Embse et al., 2017).”

“There are those who argue that test anxiety is a learned condition, and that social and cultural evaluative factors have an important bearing on its development (El-Zahhar & Hocevar, 1991; Hembree, 1988).”

“Such impaired inhibitory control often results in irrelevant information consuming limited working memory resources, impairing task performance, and impacting fluid cognition (i.e., domain-general abilities) [127,131,132].”

“0% of primary and secondary school students in America, and around 10 million students suffered lower academic performance as result of test-anxiety (Hembree, 1988; Hill and Wigfield, 1984).”

“A meta-analysis based on hundreds of studies revealed an overall correlation on−0.29 between test anxiety and academic achievement (Hembree, 1988).”

“…in the above-mentioned associations seen as research has found female students to consistently report higher levels of test anxiety than males (see Hembree, 1988; Lowe, 2014; Seipp & Schwarzer, 1996; Zeidner, 1998), while males tend to show comparatively greater learned helplessness (Valås, 2001).”

“Classic studies on effective interventions for those with test anxiety often resulted in weak or moderate effects (e.g., Hembree, 1988; von der Embse et al., 2018).”

“In addition, positive effects of school-based test-anxiety interventions have been reported for achievement performance (e.g., Hembree, 1988; Weems, et al., 2009).”

“Test anxiety is generally known to reduce intellectual performance (Hembree, 1988; Seipp, 1991).”

“Two of the subject areas, English and mathematics, which showed the strongest relationships to test anxiety (Hembree, 1988), are the areas most often included on high stakes tests.”

“These difficulties may often translate into underachievement (Hembree, 1988).”

“Consequently, high levels of test anxiety might interfere with optimal test performance (Hembree 1988; Seipp 1991).”

“However, the belief that high anxiety leads to poor performance is supported by the finding that behavioral interventions shown to reduce anxiety were also demonstrated to improve test performance (5).”

“Although the results obtained with systematic desensitization are highly satisfactory (Hembree, 1988; Spielberger & Vagg, 1987), the multidimensional nature of test anxiety argues in favor of the integration of this technique inside wider-ranging treatment packages that may ultimately prove to be more effective.”

“…between gender differences in performance and test anxiety indicates that although females generally rate themselves higher on test anxiety (Hembree, 1988), gender differences in performance remain at about the same level in both high-stakes and low-stakes testing situations (Bridgeman,…”

“Test anxiety has long been known to negatively predict test performance (Hembree, 1988; Hill & Wigfield, 1984) and has been connected to parental pressure to achieve and students’ low self-esteem (Hembree, 1988).”

“This is test anxiety, and it leaves them unable to perform their best (see Hembree, 1988; Horwitz, 2010; for reviews).”

“The negative relationship between TA and academic performance in college students is well established in classic reviews (Chapell et al., 2005; Hembree, 1988).”

“Anxiety level can impact test performance,(10-12) with test performance typically being inversely related to levels of test anxiety.(13-15) Despite potential anxiety, the students in this cohort did not report that the format of the examination hindered their performance.”

“In addition, the incessant focus on undesirable possibilities in avoidance goal regulation evokes a host of aversive psychological processes such as anticipatory anxiety, appraising ambiguous stimuli and information as threatening, and feeling compelled to self-protect and avoid challenge (Alicke & Sedikides, 2009; De…”

“As test anxiety may show overlap with general trait anxiety and neuroticism (e.g., Chamorro-Premuzic, Ahmetoglu, & Furnham, 2008; Hembree, 1988) and that high test anxiety may also meet diagnostic criteria for clinical anxiety (LeBeau et al.”

“For instance, Hembree (1988) discussed the nature, effects test anxiety, and evaluative anxiety treatment.”

“Numerous studies have demonstrated that test anxiety affects students in various countries and across educational levels (for reviews, see Hembree 1988; Zeidner 1998, 2007).”

“A meta-analytic study based on almost 9000 participants reported a substantial inverse correlation between self-esteem and test anxiety (Hembree, 1988), a finding also supported by many recent studies (e.”

“It has long been suggested that students suffer higher levels of academic anxiety in science and mathematics subjects as compared to subjects that are based on memorization, language or assembling knowledge from experience (Everson, Tobias, Hartman, & Gourgey, 1993; Hembree, 1988).”

“Additionally, it has been reported that poor performance on tests caused by anxiety is inversely related to self-esteem and directly related to fear, leading to defensive and evasive behavior (Hembree, 1988).”

“Test anxiety was thus related to measures of academic achievement, a result that corresponds with findings from prior metaanalyses that revealed comparably strong correlations (Hembree, 1988; Richardson et al., 2012; von der Embse et al., 2018).”

“our results would seem to contradict Hembree's (1988) claim that “the validity of the entire testing process is challenged” (p.”

“Moreover, test anxiety has been found to impede individuals’ task-relevant processing, cause lower levels of achievement, and lead to the underestimation of competence (Cassady, 2004; Hembree, 1988; Zeidner, 2007).”

“Furthermore, external factors may also play a role in the effects of test anxiety, such as the stakes (Wood et al., 2016) and format (Hembree, 1988) of the assessment.”

“among high, as compared with low, test-anxious students (Hembree, 1988; Tobias, 1985, 1986).”

“This type of program has a history of positive results (e.g., Hembree, 1988; King & Ollendick, 1998); however, it might be beneficial to also screen students for memory skills and perhaps adding memory strategies as a second phase of treatment.”

“High test-anxious students are more likely to study less (Smith et al ., 1990) and experience lower academic achievement results (Hembree, 1988).”