Test Anxiety and Response to Evaluation Stress.

Abstract

Electromyographic measures of frontalis muscle tension were collected from high and low-test-anxious subjects while they were performing a challenging tracking task. Self-report measures of subjective tension, actual tracking scores, and estimates of relative success on the tracking task were also collected. Subjects performed the tracking task following instructions designed to maximize or minimize evaluative apprehension. There were no statistically significant differences between high and low-test-anxious subjects on either the physiological or the performance measures. However, there were significant differences on the two other measures, suggesting a primary role of cognitive factors in test anxiety. High-test-anxious subjects described themselves as more tense, and they more harshly evaluated their own performances. In addition, there was some evidence that they were more prone than low-test-anxious subjects to construe situations as evaluative. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1980
Accession Number
ADA094708

Entities

People

  • Dickie A. Harris
  • Richard L. Hughes

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  • Air Force Research Laboratory

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  • Psychological Phenomena And Processes
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Fields of Study

  • Psychology

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  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience