Test Taking and Science

THE EFFECTS OF MULTIPLE FACTORS ON TEST TAKING ABILITY - WRITTEN BY: H.F.

Practice Tests.

According to a study by Tufts University, people under stress usually have more trouble remembering information. However using a strategy called retrieval practice, which is just another way of saying practice testing, people can pull information from their memory even when they’re stressed. This is important since most students find test taking to be stressful, which could impair their memory retrieval abilities. However, taking practice tests may help their memory and performance on an exam.

According to a study by Kent State University, taking practice tests improves learning through supporting the use of more effective (memory) encoding strategies. The researchers found that when people were tested, they came up with better mediators or hints, than when they were only restudying the material. This method could be effective when trying to learn foreign language vocabulary for an exam since practice testing supports the generation of better hints to remember the words correctly.

Stress.

According to a study by the University of Chicago, stress can affect student test performance differently depending on how it is perceived and the student’s overall mindset during the test. The researchers had a category of students that had large working memory and split them into two groups: students who were confident about math and students who were anxious about math. Saliva samples were taken from the students before and after a stressful math test to measure their cortisol (stress hormone) levels. For students confident about math, cortisol increase led to a better performance. However, for students who were apprehensive about math, cortisol increase led to a poorer performance. The study shows that a person’s viewpoint of an event can change the way stress affects their performance. When taking a test, students should try to change their perspective on the test. The study suggests writing down what they feel anxious about before the test, similar to a brain dump. Another similar study conducted by the British Psychological Society found that students under stress who had a large working memory were more confident, which boosted their exam scores. Following a similar pattern as the first study, students with a poor working memory were more prone to anxiety and had lower exam scores as a result when under stress.

According to another study by the University of Chicago, anxious students who write about what makes the worried before the exam improve their scores. Since anxiety does lead to poor test performance, the researcher decided to see what would happen if writing was used as a way to relieve worry and excessive anxiety before the exam and how that could affect test performance in the end. Students that wrote expressively about their feelings right before a math test had better accuracy, with a 5% improvement.

Water Intake.

According to the British Psychological Society, bringing water when taking a test correlated with better performance in student grades. 25% of students brought in water when taking the exam and they scored about 5% better than students who did not bring in water. Dr. Pawson from the University of East London said that drinking water could "alleviate anxiety" and could affect the brain's thinking function, which may make sense since the brain is 73% water. Although more research is needed to fully understand the science behind this, students should probably stay hydrated and bring a water bottle when they take a test. It may help them feel more comfortable and prepared and contribute to a slightly better score.

Amount of Sleep.

According to Dr. Philip Alapat, the medical director at Harris Health System, students that pull all-nighters and lose sleep could do more harm than good to their memory. He says, "Memory recall and ability to maintain concentration are much improved when an individual is rested." Sleep deprivation affects a person's energy and ability to focus. Sleep-deprived students are unable to properly recall information, and may lead to poor performances on an exams.

External Messages.

According to a study conducted by the American Psychological Association, the messages a teacher gave their students also affected their scores based on how they perceived it. When a teacher gave a negative message focusing on failure, highlighting that the students had to do well on the exam or they would not have a secure future, students had a lower score on the exam. When a teacher gave a message that had similar content but was more positive, for example, a message that focused on the success of the student if they did well on the exam, students ended up doing better on the exam.

This is quite important to think about since it suggests that the type of environment that a person is in can affect motivation and outcome of a test. Perhaps students should try to distance themselves from toxic environments and surround themselves with more positive authority figures and peers to boost their motivation before an important exam.

Memory.

According to a study by Baylor University, students who actively regenerated information by telling someone about it after learning could recall the information relatively easily later and are able to remember it longer. This study also found that people are able to recall details from a memory better, when presented with a cue. Applying this study technique could improve the recall ability of students, which could improve test scores. I've been using this method for a while and I find that remembering information is easier when I am able to explain it to other people. For me, I am able to organize the information in my head in a way that makes sense and in a way that I can also explain it to others easily and concisely, so my brain can learn which details are important to know and understand.