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- And How to Deal With It Effectively
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- My head feels like it’s in a clamp.
- My stomach hurts.
- I’m sweating.
- I studied this stuff yesterday, why can’t I remember?
- I can’t think!
- As soon as I leave the test, I remember everything.
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- Well, there is some good news and some not so good news
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- There are two pieces of good news:
- 1. Test anxiety is not genetic.
- 2. Test anxiety is something
you’ve learned to do and can be unlearned.
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- You have spent a lot of time learning and practicing how to be anxious
about tests.
- But, before we learn something new, there are few things to remember
first.
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- Everyone needs some “stress” to perform at the peak of their abilities,
so at the beginning, as stress increases, so does performance.
- But, if stress keeps increasing, there comes a point, for you, where
your performance will drop off - that’s what you would call “test
anxiety”.
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- The best place to be on this chart for optimal performance is in the
middle. Athletes call this “the
zone”.
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- There are a number of factors that can increase your performance. In each case, we will be working on
reducing stress to get you back into the zone.
- 1. Physical factors - relaxation,
rest, etc.
- 2. Rehearsal - practice,
practice, practice
- 3. Thought - what you think is
what you get
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- Basic health is key in optimal performance.
- Eating right, sleeping right, and exercising all help your body to be
prepared to be able to work.
- Not abusing your body also helps - using alcohol or drugs (including
caffeine) that alter your natural state detracts from you abilities to
function. - Let me tell you a
story...
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- So, an unnamed student decided to cram for an exam. In order to cram, she decided to start
drinking coffee. By 10:00 p.m., a
whole pot of coffee was consumed.
- At 11:00, the student noticed that her hands were shaking, her heart was
racing, her head was pounding, and her breathing was fast...
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- Her diagnosis: “I must be so
anxious for having waited so long that I can’t concentrate
anymore.” She spent the rest of
the night alternately trying to sleep and study, neither of which she
managed very well. She went to
the test exhausted with a large sense of dread.
- The other diagnosis: caffeine
overdose.
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- Beyond basic health, learning a relaxation technique allows you to
better control your anxiety, if it does become a problem, by teaching
you how to slow down your body’s pace to a level where you can perform
better. - Here’s a simple technique you can do anywhere...
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- 1. Get comfortable. Close your eyes (after you read all
the instructions) and take a deep breath.
- 2. Hold the breath for a split
second then breath out slowly.
- 3. Repeat this a couple more
times.
- 4. Breath normally, but slowly
for a couple of minutes.
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- That’s all there is to it. Most
people will find that just slowing down feels better.
- As you practice doing this more, you will find that your body will learn
that you want it to relax and that, just by getting comfortable, you
will begin to feel yourself slowing down.
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- Let’s assume that the problem is that your stress is too high, rather
than too low.
- Slowing your body down will
contribute to being more able to control yourself in the way that will
help you perform better.
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- See if this is true for you -
- The more experience you have doing something, the better you tend to be
at it.
- The less experience you have doing something, the more difficult and
overwhelming it may seem.
- Most people report that new things are more difficult than familiar
things.
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- Here’s the basic rule:
- The more you practice something just the way you will have to “perform”
it, the easier it will become to perform it.
- Many people report anxiety when they have to perform without adequate
practice…
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- Yes, another story:
- A student goes to a math class and is taught a+b=c. She studies at home over and over
again, a+b=c, a+b=c, a+b=c.
- She gets to the test and sees the following equation: a=b-c.
- She panics because she was not taught this in class and has never seen
this before.
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- There are 3 basic kinds of tests:
- 1. Multiple choice
- 2. Essay
- 3. Concept learning (story
problems)
- Each test requires different kinds of practice.
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- Objective tests (like multiple choice, true-false, short answer, and
matching) ask you to know how discrete bits of information are
connected.
- Like: a) 1492
connects to b) Columbus
sailed the ocean blue.
- Practice for these by some method approximating flash cards usually is
best.
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- Essay tests ask you to tell how things are related or not related to
each other or ask you to show you know content.
- Compare/contrast
- Describe/discuss
- Outlining and understanding main points and how they are connected works
best.
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- Concept learning asks you to show you know the concept by being able to
use it.
- Math story problems
- Using a concept in a different way than was discussed.
- Studying the concepts from different angles and views to see how they
connect to each other works best.
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- Remember, the best way to reduce anxiety is to practice in the same way
you will have to perform.
- BUT, first you have to study the material.
- This means you might want to study far enough ahead to allow yourself
the time to practice.
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- After you’ve studied the material and know it, practice it like you’re
taking the test.
- Ask yourself the same types of questions as the test you will take
(multiple choice, essay, concept learning)
- Time yourself
- As you practice, look for any information you are missing or that is
weak for you.
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- After you’ve identified weak areas, study more then practice again.
- If you’re unsure that you have studied everything you need to know, get
an appointment with your instructor a few days before the exam.
- Take a list of the things you know.
Ask if the list is complete.
Do not ask...
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- “What’s on the test?” Teachers
hate that, they really do.
- So, study and practice. Find your
weak points. Study and practice.
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- The third part of reducing test anxiety is entirely within you. It’s what you’re thinking about how
you are going to perform.
- Here comes another story...
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- Well, you’ve waited ‘til the day before the exam because you’ve said to
yourself,
- “I can only study when I feel energized and now I feel really
energized. But, since I’ve
waited so long, I’m not sure I can do very well because I may not have
enough time to study everything.”
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- “And, since I may not have enough time to study everything, it might be
that what I study won’t be on the test and what I don’t study may be on
the test.”
- “What if I get to the test and I can’t recognize any of the questions?”
- “What if I really bomb the exam?”
- “What if I just freeze?”
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- Now, instead of actually studying, you close you eyes and picture
yourself going to the exam, full of dread, knowing that you don’t
know. You see yourself sitting in
the desk as the test papers get passed back. You can clearly see yourself looking
at the top page of the exam and blanking out completely.
- And you rehearse this over and over again.
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- So, you go to class the next day, full of dread and when the test hits
your desk, you look down at the first page and blank out.
- No surprise here. You have just
demonstrated the power of positive thinking!
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- Psychologists and great thinkers who study humanity like to believe that
they know lots about people. The
truth is, we don’t know that much.
- BUT, here’s one thing we do know:
- What you think will happen has a dramatic and often direct effect on
how you behave.
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- Each time we imagine something or ask ourselves questions, or make
statements to ourselves, a part of us hears each of these as a
suggestion for action.
- Remember how we get good at things - practice, practice, practice.
- If you practice how awful you will perform, it is likely that that is
how you will act.
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- The third part of reducing test anxiety is to reduce and/or eliminate
negative messages and images you give yourself about how you will do on
the test and replace those thoughts with more realistically positive
thoughts and images.
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- All these examples are based on the assumption that you have taken
adequate time to prepare…
- “I may not answer all the questions, but I can start with the ones I
really know and move to the harder ones and do the best I can.”
- “Even if I feel a little shaky, I can still perform to the best of my
ability and let the anxiety energize me.”
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- “I have studied this material to the best of my ability and will answer
the questions as best I can.”
- “Expecting myself to get all the questions correct is not a good
strategy. It is likely I may get
several questions wrong. But
that will not deter me from doing my best.”
- “I can allow myself to relax enough so that I can perform at my peak level.”
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- You can also imagine yourself doing a good job.
- Close your eyes and watch yourself feeling confident about your ability
to perform as you walk to the test.
Feel a sense of anticipation of wanting to start the test to
show what you know. Watch
yourself working through the test and feeling good about your
performance. Imagine skipping a
hard question for now and coming back to it later. Leave the test excited.
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- 1. The first key to reducing test
anxiety is good basic health - eating, sleeping, exercising - and
avoiding mood enhancing foods and drinks like caffeine and alcohol.
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- 2. Studying in advance and
practicing the way you will be tested allow you to be in the “zone” with
your skills. Knowing how to study
differently for different types of exams is critical to practicing
appropriately.
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- 3. Learning a stress management
technique can help you to reduce the symptoms of anxiety and
stress. Deep breathing, soothing
imagery, quiet time, etc. all help to teach your body to slow down so
that you can perform to the best of your ability.
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- 4. Thinking realistically
positive thoughts and practicing your performance positively in your
mind increase the likelihood of good performance. Rehearsing disaster has the opposite
effect. Learn to stop negative
thinking and replace it with appropriate positive thoughts.
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- Currently enrolled campus-based TWU Students may call or stop by the
Counseling Center for an appointment.
Counseling is free and confidential.
- Denton: West Jones Hall 940-898-3801
- Dallas: Parkland, Room
120 214-689-6655
- Dallas: Presbyterian, Room
16 214-706-2416
- Houston: North Residence
Hall 713-794-2059
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- Visit any of the TWU Counseling Center waiting areas to pick up handouts
about test anxiety, test taking, and other topics of interest.
- Denton: West Jones Hall
- Dallas: Parkland Room 120
- Houston: North Residence Hall
- Some handouts are also available on our web site at: http://www/twu.edu/o-sl/selfhelp.html.
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- On the Web, visit the Virtual Pamphlet Collection at http://ub-counseling.buffalo.edu. This web site contains handouts and
pamphlets, created by university counseling centers across the country,
on a variety of topics including stress and stress management.
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- This presentation was created by Donald Rosen, Ph.D., Director, Texas
Woman’s University Counseling Center.
- This presentation was created for educational purposes only. The TWU Counseling Center does not
provide on-going counseling via the internet, telephone, or e-mail.
- Comments and suggestions about this presentation may be sent to the
author at drosen@twu.edu.
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- Thank you for stopping by to visit this site. We hope you found it useful.
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Notes
