Cognitive Modification of Test-Anxious College Students

Abstract

Assigned 15 male and 6 female test anxious 17-25 yr. olds (1 high school student and 20 undergraduates) to a group cognitive modification treatment, group desensitization, or a waiting list control group. The cognitive modification group combined an insight-oriented therapy which was designed to make test anxious Ss aware of their anxiety-engendering thoughts with a modified desensitization procedure which employed (a) coping imagery on how to handle anxiety and (b) self-instructional training to attend to the task and not ruminate about oneself. Results indicate that the cognitive modification group was most effective in significantly reducing test anxiety as assessed by (a) test performance obtained in an analog test situation, (b) self-reports given immediately after posttreatment and later at a 1-mo follow-up, and (c) GPA. Following treatment, the test anxious Ss in the cognitive modification group did not differ from a group of 10 low test anxious Ss, and in fact the cognitive modification Ss reported a significant increase in facilitative anxiety. (63 ref.)

Full text

Journal
ol
Consulting
and
Clinical Psychology
1972,
Vol.
39, No. 3,
370-380
COGNITIVE
MODIFICATION
OF
TEST
ANXIOUS
COLLEGE
STUDENTS1
DONALD
H.
MEICHENBAUM
2
University
of
Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario
The
relative
efficacy
of a
group
cognitive
modification
treatment procedure
(N
=
8) was
determined
by
comparing
it
with group desensitization
(N — 8)
and
a
waiting
list
control group
(N
=
S). The
cognitive modification group
combined
an
insight-oriented therapy which
was
designed
to
make
test-
anxious
5s
aware
of
their
anxiety-engendering thoughts with
a
modified
desensitization procedure which employed
(a)
coping imagery
on how to
handle anxiety
and (6)
self-instructional training
to
attend
to the
task
and not
ruminate about oneself. Results indicated
that
the
cognitive modification
group
was
most
effective
in
significantly reducing
test
anxiety
as
assessed
by
(a)
test
performance
obtained
in an
analogue
test
situation,
(&)
self-reports
given
immediately
after
posttreatment
and
later
at a
one-month
follow-up,
and (c)
grade point
average.
Following treatment,
the
test
anxious
Ss in the
cognitive
modification
group
did not
differ
from
a
group
of low
test
anxious
5s, and in
fact
the
cognitive modification
5s
reported
a
significant increase
in
facilitative
anxiety.
The
negative
effects
of
test
anxiety
on
aca-
demic
performance have been repeatedly docu-
mented (Alpert
&
Haber,
1960;
Handler
&
Sarason,
1952;
Paul
&
Eriksen, 1964; Sara-
son, 1960; Spielberger, 1966).
The
major
causes
of
performance decrement
are
believed
to be
failure
of the
high test anxious person
to
attend
to
relevant
parts
of the
task,
in-
trusion
of
irrelevant thoughts,
and
high emo-
tional arousal which
interfere
with
perform-
ance
(Easterbrook,
19S9;
Handler
&
Wat-
son, 1966; Wine, 1971). Research
by
Hand-
ler
and
Watson (1966)
and
Harlett
and
Watson
(1968)
has
indicated
that
high test
anxious
persons,
in
situations where their per-
formance
is
being evaluated, spend more
of
their time
(a)
worrying about their perform-
ance
and
about
how
well others
are
doing,
(b)
ruminating over
alternatives,
(c)
being
preoccupied
with such things
as
feelings
of
inadequacy, anticipation
of
punishment, loss
of
status
and
esteem,
and
heightened somatic
and
autonomic reactions. Consistent with this
1
This
study
was
assisted under Grant
120 of the
Ontario
Mental
Health
Foundation
and by a
grant
from
the
University
of
Waterloo counseling service.
The
author
wishes
to
thank
Tony
Bellisimo
who
acted
as the
therapist
and
Dorritt Clarke
and
Al
Fedoravicius
who
conducted
the
assessments.
2
Requests
for
reprints
should
be
sent
to
Donald
H.
Meichenbaum,
Department
of
Psychology, University
of
Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
description
of
high test anxious
Ss,
Liebert
and
Horris
(1967)
have suggested that test
anxiety
is
composed
of two
major components,
worry
and
emotionality.
The
worry com-
ponent
is
described
as
cognitive concern over
performance;
emotionality
is the
autonomic
arousal aspect
of
anxiety.
The
debilitating
effects
of
worry
or
cognitive concern
on
per-
formance
have been documented
by
Doctor
and
Altman
(1969), Liebert
and
Horris
(1967),
Horris
and
Liebert
(1970),
and
Spiegler,
Horris,
and
Liebert (1968). These
authors suggest that
the
emotionality compo-
nent
is
less likely
to
interfere with
the
per-
formance
of the
high test anxious
S,
whereas
worry requires more
of the S's
attention
and
more
directly causes decrement
in
perform-
ance.
Wine
(1971)
indicated that
the im-
portance
of the
worry component underscores
an
attentional interpretation
of the
debilitat-
ing
effects
of
test
anxiety where
the
adverse
effects
of
test anxiety
are due to
attention
being
divided between
self
and the
task. Wine
suggested
that
the
high test anxious
S's
per-
formance
may be
improved
by
directing
his
attention
to
task-relevant variables
and
away
from
self-evaluative ruminations. Treatment
should
be
designed
to
directly control
the
worry
component
and the
cognitive
or
atten-
tional
style
of the
high test anxious person.
370