Michael, a sophomore at Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH), hates the stress of taking tests and feels nervous while studying for them. "I recently had three exams in one week," he says. "It was difficult trying to manage my time."

Michael says that a large part of his anxiety is due to not being aware of what's going to be on the test, and therefore, not knowing what to study.

"When I study, all I can think about is the actual test, how much time I have left to study, what questions will be on the test, and whether or not I'm studying the right material," he explains.

During exams, Michael sometimes "blanks out" when he's nervous, especially if he memorized information a certain way and the questions are worded differently. It's not until he walks out of the classroom that the answers come back to him.

Test Stress Defined
Most students report being more stressed by schoolwork and exams than by anything else in their lives. As many as 35 percent go blank or freeze on tests, according to the American Test Anxieties Association (AMTAA).

But test anxiety is a problem not just for those who have a full-blown case; learning to reduce nervousness before class can help any student. Such  

test stress

  is the fear or dread of the outcome of being observed or evaluated by others. A test-anxious student fears failure and loss of control. Plus, stress tends to feed on itself. Feeling anxious causes a person to believe there must be something to be anxious about.

"Most students experience some level of anxiety during an exam," says Joe Landsberger, M.Ed., author of the Study Guides and Strategies Web site (www.studygs.net). "Some will be more nervous with written exams, or presenting in front of a class, or even with objective [like multiple-choice] tests."

Take Josh Vallee, a sophomore at Cuyahoga County Community College (Tri-C, Cleveland, OH), for example. He generally feels only slightly nervous about small tests -- but very anxious when finals hit.

"I always feel like I have to succeed and get a certain grade," he says. "I have certain expectations of myself. I don't like to accept the fact that I could fail."

Josh admits to being hard on himself and experiencing disappointment when he hasn't lived up to what he thinks he should do.

Test Stress Demystified
"Test anxiety is caused by social pressures to do well on tests," says Richard Driscoll, Ph.D., program director of AMTAA. "Over the years we all have ample experience with not doing well on tests. Those who are perfectionists and are critical of themselves are more apt to become test anxious."

Another frequent stress source is lack of preparation. "We have a lot of students come in for testing who wig out," says Rochelle Vallee, Josh's mom and program development manager at Tri-C. "By the time they sign in, about 70 percent of them become white in the face, start to sweat, and show signs of panic."

"The ones who are prepared are much more relaxed -- and they pass," Vallee says. "The kids who show the most nervousness are the ones who come in saying, 'Oh yeah, walk in the park. I know this stuff.' Many of them fail."

Other causes include poor time management, poor study habits, cramming at the last minute, lack of confidence, and fear of failure. Sometimes students spend more time thinking about how awful failure would be than they do preparing for success.

Test Stress Defects
Those who experience normal levels of anxiety face few negative consequences. In fact, many college students report that some tension makes them more alert and better able to perform well. Josh says that a slight amount of anxiety often motivates him to do a good job. But those who suffer higher degrees of test stress experience more serious negative effects.

"Test-anxious students test about 12 percentile points below their low-anxiety classmates, or about a half letter grade below," says Driscoll. "Test anxiety reduces working memory, interferes with concentration, and increases mistakes. Test-anxious students tend to have poorer study habits, which may be due to feeling that they will do poorly on tests regardless of how much they study."

Test Stress Defused
Luckily, there are a number of actions to make test stress more manageable.

Before the test:

• Prepare well -- spread study sessions over several days.


• Attend class regularly and complete all assignments.


• Practice relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, imagery and visualization, and muscle relaxation.


• Avoid cramming right before the exam.


• Dodge students with negative attitudes toward grades or test taking.


• Sleep enough the night before for greater alertness.


• Eat a nutritious meal for energy.

During the test:

• Avoid panicking over not knowing answers immediately.


• Practice positive self-talk.


• Change sitting positions to help yourself chill out.


• Relax when you see others handing in their papers before you.


• Realize that you don't have to know everything to do well.


• Answer the questions you know first and come back to the harder ones later.


• Don't dwell on what you don't know, or on the answers you fear you may have gotten wrong.

After the test:

• Develop a positive perspective -- one failure doesn't make you worthless.


• Take note (literally) of what worked and what didn't.


• Celebrate that you are on the road to overcoming test stress.


• Be happy it's over and cease dwelling on how well or how poorly you think you did.


• Do something to reward yourself for a job well done.

A reminder from Landsberger: "Test anxiety can be a pattern that needs time to correct. With a program and review, you will have a series of countermeasures that lessen the effect."

Sources: Richard Driscoll, Ph.D.; Joe Landsberger (www.studygs.net);
www.uc.edu/psc/test.html

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