Chariot Learning
  • About
    • FAQ
    • Our Curriculum
    • Areas Chariot Learning Serves
  • Services
    • SAT & ACT Prep
    • SAT/ACT TestFlip
    • Academic Coaching
    • Subject Tutoring
    • Strategic Reading Club
    • Proctored Practice Tests
    • GRE Prep
    • College Essay Coaching
    • Roots2Words
  • Calendar
  • Testimonials
  • Blog
  • Resources
  • Contact
May 9, 2019 by Mike Bergin

How Test Anxiety Impacts Performance

Test anxiety can hurt test takers, sometimes literally. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America describes debilitating physical symptoms of test anxiety, ranging from headaches and excessive sweating, to shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, and light-headedness leading to full-blown panic attack. Nausea and gastrointestinal distress can also occur, which probably only exacerbates the emotional and cognitive toll. Clearly, test anxiety takes a toll on test performance… or does it?

Psychologist Sigmund Tobias explored this very idea in a 1990 research paper titled Test Anxiety: Cognitive Interference or Inadequate Preparation? In that paper, he sought to review the differences between two interpretations accounting for the poor test performance of highly anxious students.

The interference hypothesis asserts that test anxiety interferes with recall of prior learning in testing situations.
The deficit hypothesis theorizes that lower test scores obtained by test anxious students are attributable to inadequate study habits or deficient test taking skills.

Tobias explored the interactions of these hypotheses through his own research and that of others, concluding that they were “complementary rather than mutually exclusive formulations.” Both anxiety and academic preparedness affected test scores by impacting the cognitive capacity available for task solution:

The cognitive capacity formulation, then, suggests that test anxiety and both study and test taking skills have inverse, though complementary effects. That is, high test anxiety is expected to increase the demands made on cognitive capacity, whereas effective study or test taking skills are predicted to reduce the capacity demanded by tasks. Therefore, optimal performance can be expected of students with good study or test taking skills and low test anxiety since such students have the greatest proportion of their cognitive capacity available to cope with task demands. Students with high test anxiety and low skills, on the other hand, are in a situation where both the task and test anxiety make maximum demands on available cognitive capacity, leaving less capacity for dealing with the task.

Tobias also concluded that more focused research was necessary to all of the elements of anxiety, ability, preparation, and testing. One study that picks up this fascinating line of inquiry was released in 2018 by Jeffrey Steedle, a senior research scientist in Validity and Efficacy Research working with ACT, Inc. Steedle used ACT assessment data to test the interactions of the interference and deficit hypotheses. The description of this fascinating study–Does Test Anxiety Bias ACT Scores?–explains the methodology and complex statistical modeling involved, but the conclusion is simple enough: none of the interference effects were significantly different from zero; therefore, test anxiety does not bias ACT performance.

This strong endorsement of the deficit hypothesis seems to ignore what most people ardently believe, that test anxiety impairs performance. That observation still holds true, especially in the context of peak performance. However, most test anxiety stems, in my experience, from a lack of familiarity with test material and lack of confidence in one’s abilities. Proper test prep mitigates both concerns. Steedle’s research supports this idea, and his conclusion offers excellent guidance for any test taker, no matter how anxious: preparation is essential for minimizing anxiety and maximizing performance.

performance preparation test anxiety

Previous articleHow to Earn a Perfect SAT or ACT ScoreNext article Fiction is Different on Reading Tests
Mike Bergin
Tens of thousands of students a year prep for the SAT & ACT through programs Mike Bergin created or organized. After more than 25 years of intensive experience in the education industry, he's done it all as a teacher, tutor, director, curriculum developer, blogger, podcaster, and best-selling author. Mike founded Chariot Learning in 2009 to deliver on the promise of what truly transformative individualized education can and should be.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Helping high schoolers with tests, school, and life is what Chariot Learning is all about. Let us know how we can help you!

Latest Posts

  • Should You Apply Early Decision This Year?
  • Perfection is Overrated
  • Meditations on Preparation: Goals
  • Three Steps to Score Consistency
  • Chronotypes

What is TestFlip?

Learn about the ultimate in self-directed supplemental SAT/ACT prep, powered by Chariot Learning:

  • Be stronger than your excuses!
    by chariotlearning 3 days ago
    Be stronger than your excuses!
  • Nothing great was ever accomplished without making sacrifices.
    by chariotlearning 4 days ago
    Nothing great was ever accomplished without making sacrifices.
  • Bitter or better... which will you become?
    by chariotlearning 1 week ago
    Bitter or better... which will you become?
  • Supporting another
    by chariotlearning 2 weeks ago
    Supporting another's success won't ever dampen yours.
  • The highest form of self-confidence is believing in your ability to learn.
    by chariotlearning 6 days ago
    The highest form of self-confidence is believing in your ability to learn.
  • Bring a little extra to your day ;)
    by chariotlearning 23 hours ago
    Bring a little extra to your day ;)
  • Don
    by chariotlearning 2 weeks ago
    Don't set limits on your unlimited potential.
  • Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. Get started!
    by chariotlearning 2 weeks ago
    Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. Get started!

Subscribe to Mike’s Podcast

Subscribe to Tests and the Rest

PARENT GROUP AND NEWSLETTER

Are you an Upstate New York parent with questions about college admissions, testing, and scholarships? The Upstate NY College Conversations Facebook group is for you. Join today!

And also sign up for College Road, our free email newsletter delivering expert educational advice, test news, admissions action steps, special offers, and more.

Upcoming Events

  1. Practice SAT – Pittsford Library (8/11/22)

    August 11 @ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
  2. Practice SAT – Gates Library (8/13/22)

    August 13 @ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
  3. SAT/ACT Intensive Class – August Evenings 2022

    August 15 @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
  4. Practice SAT – Penfield Library (8/16/22)

    August 16 @ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
  5. SAT/ACT Intensive Class – August Afternoons 2022

    August 16 @ 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm

View All Events

Testimonials

Because of the tutoring Chariot Learning provided and the positive outcome, my son was accepted into colleges that he may not have been with his SAT scores prior to their services.

Margie, Fairport mom

Read more testimonials...
© 2022 Chariot Learning, LLC. All rights reserved.