Of the eight hundred Ball State University freshman and sophomore students surveyed to determine the incidence of those who identified themselves as test anxious, approximately thirty percent indicated that they suffered from test anxiety. The thirty-eight students who agreed to participate in the experiment and were included in the final data analysis were students at Ball State University, Winter Quarter, 1970-1971, and described themselves as test anxious to the point of suffering moderate to severe discomfort in test-taking situations.After pre-testing, subjects in Group I (traditional SD) and Group II (modified SD) received two hours' relaxation training and visual imagery training, after which they underwent SD in the following manner: Group I received SD based on Wolpe's model. That is, while in a relaxed state they were exposed to a standard hierarchy based on items from the Suinn Test Anxiety Behavior Scale. Group I did not proceed to a new hierarchy item if more than one person indicated more than minimal anxiety after four exposures the item. In the six desensitization sessions, Group I was exposed to 13 of the 17 hierarchy items. Group II proceeded through the same standard hierarchy under the same conditions, but at a predetermined rate without repeating any items. They were exposed to the 17 hierarchy items in six sessions.Group III received relaxation training only with no presentation of hierarchy items. Group IV received no to treatment.A multi-factor analysis of variance was computed for pre- and post-test scores on the three measures for the four groups. Posteriori orthogonal comparisons were made for contrasts showing significant differences. Both methods of desensitization as well as relaxation training were effective in significantly reducing test anxiety as reflected by subjects' post-treatment STABS scores. All three experimental groups experienced significately greater reduction of test anxiety than the control group: Group II, F 31.1564; Group III, F 12.0813; and Group I, 6.0133. Group I and Group III were not significantly different from each other in terms of test anxiety reduction. However, Group II experienced significantly greater reduction of test anxiety than Group I as measured by mean difference STABS scores (F 9.7996).Significant changes did. not occur in scores in the other two measures used in the study, with one exception. There were no significant differences in pre- and post-test scores on the general anxiety measure (TMAS) for any of the groups. Group I showed a significant loss on the scholastic achievement measure, and the trend for the other groups was toward loss rather than gain. The reasons for this are not clear, but some possibilities are listed in the text of the dissertation.The results of the study indicate that the three experimental techniques for treatment of test anxiety as measured by the STABS were viable treatment methods. The modified SD method (Group II) appeared to be superior to the other two treatment methods in effectiveness.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/180456 |
| Date | 03 June 2011 |
| Creators | Schafer, Nina Boyd |
| Contributors | Baumann, Karen S. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | iii, 110 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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