Test Anxiety affects many college students. It is viewed theoretically as a construct consisting of several components which impair academic performance and general health of students. One theory views the anxiety as being composed of worry, task-generated interference, and self-perceived autonomic arousal that interfere with information processing. Another views it as a result of deficits in study and test-taking skills. Results of treatment outcome studies are equivocal on areas to target for optimal treatment. This study addresses these inconclusive results. / Students enrolled in introductory psychology classes at Florida State University were screened for test anxiety. Those meeting inclusion criteria were asked to volunteer for the study, resulting in 110 subjects who were randomly assigned to either a Stress Inoculation Training treatment (SIT), a study skills training treatment (SST), a combined treatment consisting of SIT and SST, and a delayed treatment control group. Anxiety and study skills measures, along with examination scores, were obtained after two classroom examinations, given at 4-week intervals. A 4-week follow-up after a third examination, assessing strength of treatment, was made. Also, pre- and post-semester noncumulative grade point averages were compared. After the first examination, treatment subjects were provided a 3-week self-directed treatment (appropriate to the experimental condition) that was explained by the experimenter to subjects in small groups. / It was hypothesized that test anxiety is the result of both interference and skills deficits and treatment should target both. Thus, the combined treatment group was expected to demonstrate significant anxiety reduction increased performance following treatment. Results did not support the hypothesis. A significant reduction in anxiety was reported on several measures for both the combined and SIT treatment groups, as compared with the SST and Control groups; however, exam scores and GPA did not significantly improve for any group. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-12, Section: B, page: 6469. / Major Professor: Charles H. Madsen. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77078 |
| Contributors | Register, Angela Costanzo., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 195 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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