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Test Anxiety

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Symptoms of Test Anxiety

One of the biggest problems facing school children who are generally intelligent but earn lower grades is test anxiety. Students experiencing test anxiety can experience any one or all of the following symptoms:

  • Perspiration
  • Sweaty palms
  • Headache
  • Upset stomach
  • Rapid heart beat
  • Tense muscles

Effects of the Test Anxiety

The test anxiety has certain effects which affects the anxious child’s performance, in turn, causes these results:

Nervousness:

  • Having difficulty reading and understanding the questions on the exam paper.
  • Having difficulty organizing your thoughts.
  • Having difficulty retrieving key words and concepts when answering essay questions.
  • Doing poorly on an exam even though you know the material.

Mental Blocking:

  • Going blank on questions.
  • Remembering the correct answers as soon as the exam is over.

Reasons for Test Anxiety

Obviously, in order to be a good student or to do well on standardized IQ or performance tests, test anxiety must be reduced or eliminated entirely!What are some of the causes of test anxiety? Anxiety is increased when students are not well prepared, or as prepared as they think they should be for an exam. It also increases when students lack confidence or are intimidated by the course material.

Remedial Measures

Using positive affirmations in these cases can help tremendously, by removing the limiting negative beliefs and self-talk. Students should also make sure that they have the best possible study environments, free of distracting influences and comfortable enough to make study productive. Well meaning friends and relatives who are sources of interruptions should be asked for their cooperation in making sure that study time is productive, which will greatly reduce test anxiety.