Date of Award

1980

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the cognitive strategies utilized by high and low test-anxious subjects when faced with an evaluative situation. The sample consisted of 43 high test-anxious subjects and 43 low test-anxious subjects at a midwestern university who were enrolled in an introductoryPsychology course. Subjects were classified as high or low test-anxious on the basis of their scores on the Test Attitude Inventory. All subjects recorded ten thoughts they entertained in reference to taking tests two weeks prior to the final examination in thePsychology course, one week before the final, and on the day of the final examination immediately preceding the test. Subjects also recorded a positive, negative, or neutral evaluation (valence) of each thought. Each self-reported thought of each of the 86 subjects over three time periods was assigned to one of the following three categories by three independent raters: (a) self-referent cognitive strategy, (b) test-specific cognitive strategy, or (c) nonspecific cognitive strategy. Various Chi Square tests of goodness of fit were performed to compare the expected frequencies of self-reported statements and valences with the observed frequencies for high and low test-anxious subjects immediately prior to the final examination. Two way analyses of variance with repeated measures on the time factor were employed to compare the mean frequencies of cognitive strategies and valences utilized across the three time periods by high and low test-anxious subjects. Results related to the Chi Square goodness of fit tests revealed that high test-anxious subjects most frequently utilized the self-referent cognitive strategy in the face of an evaluative situation. Low test-anxious subjects utilized both the self-referent and test-specific cognitive strategies when confronted with taking a test. High test-anxious subjects most frequently recorded the negative valence while low test-anxious subjects utilized the positive valence most frequently in the face of a test situation. The results of the Analyses of Variance indicated that high test-anxious subjects utilized the self-referent cognitive strategy across time. Low test-anxious subjects recorded the self-referent and test-specific cognitive strategies most frequently across the three time periods. While high test-anxious subjects continued to record the negative valence most frequently across time, the frequency of neutral valences decreased significantly as the test became more immediate. In a similar fashion, low test-anxious subjects continued to utilize the positive valence most frequently across time, and the frequency of neutral valences recorded by low test-anxious subjects also decreased significantly as the test grew nearer.

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