Students are often expected to show proficiency in content areas through exams. For many students, exams may induce anxiety. Fear of negative consequences on exams is commonly known as test anxiety (p. 2073).

In this study, Theobald et al. (2022) aimed to further expand on the interference hypothesis, which states that test anxiety impairs task processing and knowledge retrieval during exams (p. 2074). They approached the hypothesis by testing whether test anxiety predicted performance on high-stakes medical exams. Researchers collected data on anxiety levels, knowledge, and working memory from 309 high-achieving medical students with above-average cognitive abilities in Germany. Each of the three variables was isolated using controlled settings, such that researchers created methods to ensure that they were only measuring the effect of one variable at a time. Doing so was crucial in determining whether each measure, on its own, affected the relationship between test anxiety and exam performance.

Data analysis showed several significant findings. First, students with higher levels of test anxiety had smaller increases in their knowledge over time, as compared to students who had lower levels of test anxiety. As a result, students with higher test anxiety scored lower on their final medical exams.

Secondly, test anxiety not only affected knowledge retrieval during the exam but also knowledge acquisition during the exam period as a whole. In other words, the relationship between test anxiety and performance was established far before the actual exam day.

Additionally, awareness of knowledge deficits led to higher anxiety. When students received low scores on daily surveys that assessed their learning, they felt anxious for the following survey. However, students with high levels of test anxiety did not necessarily score low on the surveys.

The findings from this study did not fully support the validity of the interference hypothesis. When knowledge was controlled for, anxiety did not significantly impact exam performance. This finding was made evident through the insignificant changes in performance between scores from the mock exam and the final exam. However, this result may be skewed because of the selective group of students that were recruited.

The study suggested that it would be important for students with test anxiety to find effective strategies to help them acquire and retain knowledge as they study. Additionally, it would be essential for schools and institutions to implement interventions that could reduce test anxiety.

Theobald et al.’s (2022) study also informs the work we do at EPIC. As we continue interviewing students about their failure stories, we consider the effects that low scores and test anxiety have on their conceptualization of failure. It also allows us to determine how often students encounter test anxiety and how it impacts their study techniques before an exam.

For more details on this study, please retrieve it at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09567976221119391. 

Reference:

Theobald, M., Breitwieser, J., & Brod, G. (2022). Test anxiety does not predict exam performance when knowledge is controlled for: Strong evidence against the interference hypothesis of test anxiety. Psychological Science, 33(12), 2073-2083.