Is test anxiety undermining your student's performance?

by Dr. Paul Joffe, Clinical Psychologist at the University of Illinois Counseling Center

Test anxiety is a situation-specific type of anxiety that plagues between 5 and 10 percent of college students. Otherwise well-prepared and capable students freeze up with anxiety. Some students completely forget what they studied. Others are distracted by thoughts that have nothing to do with the test. Still others become indecisive and can't choose between rival answers on multiple-choice questions. All become bogged down and hopelessly inefficient. Many students with test anxiety don't know they have it. Instead, they assume the problem is one of preparation or basic intelligence.

Answer as honestly as possible to the following questions...

1. While taking an examination I freeze up and often feel tense and uneasy.
Agree______ Disagree______

2. During the examination my thoughts are consumed with worries of performing poorly or failing.
Agree______ Disagree______

3. Even with good preparation my mind goes blank while taking the exam.
Agree______ Disagree______

4. My performance on examinations does not reflect my knowledge of the topic.
Agree______ Disagree______

If you answered 'agree' to 3 of the 4 questions you may be experiencing test anxiety. All by itself, test anxiety can deprive students of the hard-earned and well-deserved results of weeks of preparation. To find out more about test anxiety, email p-Joffe@uiuc.edu. Also, see this self-help brochure the Counseling Center has put together to help you deal with your test anxiety.