Coping with Test Anxiety

by Cheryl McAllister

Test anxiety is not the normal nervousness everyone gets before a test. It is not a learning problem. Test anxiety is an unreasonable fear of having to prove under pressure what one has learned. It may include feelings of panic, loss of control, nervousness, helplessness, distress and doom. Test anxiety produces an inability to think clearly in spite of adequate preparation.

Anyone can experience test anxiety. Some students begin to develop this problem in high school when they are required to take ACT and SAT tests to be admitted to college. Some students start to experience anxious feelings about tests in middle school when they first begin to have final exams and more emphasis is put on earning high grades. The problem can even follow adults into the work place if they are required to take exams to get a job or a promotion.

Test anxiety is caused by a combination of factors. These can include lack of self-confidence, pressure to perform to a certain standard to please family or peers, memories of previous failures, insufficient preparation, fear of the consequences of failure, perfectionism, and negative attitudes toward the subject caused by bad previous experiences.

There is a long list of physiological responses associated with text anxiety. This is due to the release of adrenaline into the body. Some adrenaline actually improves performance by making the individual more alert. But if the body overreacts to the situation and releases too much adrenaline, then the individual may experience an increase in heartrate, muscle tension, shortness of breath, develop a dry mouth or begin to sweat heavily. In extreme cases dizziness or nausea may occur.

With all of these physiological and psychological events bombarding an individual trying to complete an exam, it is easy to understand why performance is effected. Individuals with test anxiety can experience mental ‘blocking’, as if the brain has built a wall around material that has been learned and won’t allow the tester access. Some students experience distractibility or an inability to concentrate. The student reads the question, but doesn’t understand the words. It may be necessary to read the question several times before the words begin to have meaning. Other students find they cannot organize their thoughts. They know the procedure to use, but can’t organize the steps necessary to work the problem. Another phenomenon is lack of confidence in an answer. Often students have the correct answer to a problem, but convince themselves that they couldn’t have gotten the problem right. In a self-fulfilling prophesy, they will then very aggressively create a wrong response.

The most important thing to remember about test anxiety is that it is a learned response or habit and like any habit, steps can be taken to reduce or eliminate the undesired behavior. If you suffer from test anxiety, then the following ideas may help you learn new behaviors so that test taking becomes more of a challenge and less of an ordeal.

BE SURE YOU HAVE GOOD STUDY HABITS. Anyone who has not adequately prepared for a test is going to be anxious. Often students who develop test anxiety in a particular subject will also develop a resistance to studying the subject. This is obviously self-defeating. The better prepared a student is for a test, the more confidence they will have while performing on that test. There is an abundance of material available about study skills, time management, note taking, how to get the most out of a textbook and homework. The following are some tips that are especially important.

  1. Manage your time well. Plan time to study. Study should be an on-going, continuous process, not cramming before tests.
  2. Get projects done before the deadline. Keep up with homework, reading assignments, papers, etc.
  3. ATTEND ALL CLASSES.
  4. If the instructor writes it on the board, put it in your notes.
  5. Form a study group. Get to know other students in your classes and arrange a time for everyone to get together.
  6. Read the textbook. This may seem obvious in some courses, but applies to mathematics courses as well.
  7. Practice taking tests. Write your own test or have members of your study group write tests for each other. Take the test without using notes and using a time limit.
  8. Reward yourself for studying. Once you feel you understand and have mastered the material, close the books and do something you enjoy that relaxes you. This will help overcome your negative attitude towards the subject.

STAY HEALTHY. Stressful situations are even harder to deal with if you are hungry, tired, uncomfortable or sick.

  1. Eat sensibly before long study sessions and before tests. Oatmeal and fish are good ‘brain foods.' Try to stay away from too much caffeine, alcohol, and sugar before an exam.
  2. Get a good night’s sleep. Being rested will help you deal with the stress of a test better than cramming all night and coming in to take the test exhausted.
  3. Dress comfortably. You want as few distractions as possible. Wear layers so if the room is too cool you can cover up and if you get too warm, you can shed a layer or two.
  4. Aerobic exercise helps relieve tension and allows the body to operate more efficiently. Try to incorporate 30-60 minutes of exercise 3 or 4 times a week into your schedule.
  5. Exercise, eating right, getting enough sleep and moderation in ‘partying’ will help keep you from catching every germ and virus that comes your way. Feeling in peak condition physically helps deflect the tension of a testing situation.

BE PREPARED MENTALLY TO SUCCEED ON YOUR EXAM. Prepare for exams like athletes prepare for competition. Part of athletic training is to visualize the performance. Try this exercise. Close your eyes and imagine the testing situation. You come in early so you can get a good seat, away from the door where people leaving the exam may distract you. You then go out of the room, get a drink of water, use the restroom, and relax a minute or two. You take several deep, cleansing breaths which force the tension and nervousness out of your body. You imagine feeling confident and ready. The instructor passes out the exam. Your pencils are sharp, your calculator has a new battery and you are ready. You look over the exam. You smile to yourself because now you will get a chance to show the instructor how much you have learned. You work the test carefully and with confidence. You have time to check it over for careless mistakes, then turn it in knowing you’ve done the best job you can.

Perhaps you may feel silly doing this exercise, but it will help. You should do it several times before the exam to help form a positive attitude toward the testing situation.

PRACTICE TESTING IN A LESS STRESSFUL ENVIRONMENT. Some instructors will put old exams in a learning center or will pass out study guides that are similar to the actual exam. Often textbooks will have practice tests at the end of a chapter. If you have formed a study group have each member write an exam (complete with an answer page) then exchange exams. Take the practice test in a place and at a time where you will not be disturbed for the amount of time you would normally be given to take the test. Do not use notes or your textbook. Do the practice exam as if it were the real thing. At the end of the time period, grade the exam and determine where you need to go back and study more. Practicing test taking in a non-threatening environment can help you gain confidence and is an effective study method.

EMPLOY GOOD TEST TAKING TECHNIQUES. Use the following techniques when taking an exam.

  1. If you had to memorize any formulas, definitions, etc. immediately turn the test over and on the back write all that information down. Then you won’t be worried about forgetting it later.
  2. Look over the test before you begin answering questions. Put a + by questions you feel very confident about, an X by questions you feel are hard but can do, and a ? by items you feel least confident about. Do the +’d items first, then the X’d items. This will build confidence and make the most effective use of your testing time. Finally attack the ?’d items. You may find that by the time you get to them you have remembered something that will make them less difficult.
  3. Read all of the directions and test questions carefully.
  4. On true/false, matching, and multiple choice tests never leave an item blank. This type of test question can be guessed at (this is not cheating). Sometimes your guess may actually be your brain trying to get information you learned up to the surface through the anxiety.
  5. Don’t spend too much time on one question. If you’ve spent 5 minutes on an item and you are still struggling with it, move on. Come back to that item after you have done everything else.
  6. Unless you are convinced that your initial answer was incorrect, don’t change an answer. Your first instinct is usually correct.
  7. Use all of your time. You don’t get bonus points for leaving early. Don’t rush . Use any extra time to go back over the exam and check for careless or incomplete answers.
  8. When you get the exam back, use it to help study for the next exam. Rework missed items. Note the types of mistakes you made - were they careless errors, not reading the directions closely, misreading the problem or question, or not knowing the material. Identifying the types of mistakes you are making is the first step in correcting that problem on the next exam.

HOW TO COUNTERACT AN ANXIETY ATTACK DURING AN EXAM. If you have a tendency to experience anxiety attacks during an exam, then you may wish to ‘vaccinate’ yourself with some relaxation exercises. These exercises need to be practiced BEFORE you need to use them during an exam. Try each in a practice situation, such as while doing homework or working a practice test, and choose the one that seems to make you feel most relaxed. Once you’ve chosen your method, spend one minute before and after each study/homework session and each exam performing the exercise. (Research shows that these techniques can improve test scores by 10-20 percent.)

  1. Visualization - Sit comfortably. Breathe gently and relax your muscles. Pretend you are sitting in your favorite place. Imagine everything about it: whit it looks like, smells like, etc. Concentrate on each sense in turn to help you really “be” in this place.
  2. Memory - Sit comfortably. Breath gently and relax your muscles. Let your mind drift toward a pleasant, restful and reassuring memory. Let yourself experience the memory; don’t concentrate too hard on it.
  3. Progressive Relaxation - Sit comfortable, relaxing each of the five major muscle groups in turn. First, tense your feet and lower legs by pushing your feet “into” the floor. Hold for 10 seconds and relax. Then tighten the thighs by pointing your toes; hold for ten seconds and relax. Follow this same tensing and relaxing procedure for the stomach, arms, shoulders, hands and facial muscles.
  4. Deep Breathing - Sit quietly with eyes closed and all muscles relaxed. Slowly breathe deeply, filling your lungs with oxygen. Exhale slowly. Repeat this procedure five or six times. You will feel calmer, and the oxygen will increase your brain’s thinking ability.

Other anxiety busters include: bringing a small snack to eat during the exam, chewing gum, asking the instructor a question, (if you are allowed to) be excused to go get a quick drink and a couple of calming breathes, wear a watch and track how long you work on each problem, think about a post-exam reward that you can give yourself, or give yourself a mental pep-talk (you can do it, you know this stuff, this test isn’t the end of my life, I am in control).

Test anxiety is a learned behavior - you can learn test confidence if you are willing to work on it.

AFTER THE TEST. Plan to reward yourself after the exam - you worked hard you deserve it. Go somewhere and relax if possible. When you get the results of the exam, evaluate what caused any mistakes or problems you had while taking it. Revise your study plan if lack of preparation is the problem. Try a different relaxation technique if the one you used didn’t work well. Continually reevaluate what you are doing, keep what works and disregard what does not. With some effort on your part, test taking can become a positive, challenging experience instead of a dreaded, negative punishment.

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