Does test anxiety cause poorer performance on exams? Meta-analyses show that students with higher test anxiety tend to perform worse on exams (1). We also know that anxiety can affect cognitive processes through working memory capacity (2). Therefore, the general consensus is that test anxiety interferes with our working memory, which in turn leads to poorer exam performance.
According to this interference hypothesis, anxiety interferes with our already limited working memory capacity, making it harder to focus and process information in anxiety-filled situations like exams. However, a recent study with German medical students found that test anxiety did not predict exam performance when prior knowledge was controlled for, claiming strong evidence against the interference hypothesis (3).
This finding seems to run counter to the perceived wisdom that otherwise capable students are underperforming on exams because of anxiety. Educators are cautioned against using high-stakes assessments that might exacerbate student’s test anxiety (I think there are other reasons to avoid high-stakes assessments, namely that they don’t actually reinforce learning in any long-term, meaningful way as they don’t encourage spaced retrieval practice).
Moreover, any increase in anxiety is especially concerning as student mental health appears to be in crisis (4). Teachers aren’t faring any better - one study found that teachers were more likely to report increased anxiety during the pandemic than health care workers (5). With all the stress placed on educators, the finding that test anxiety may not be the root cause of poor exam performance might be somewhat of a relief. While I have no love of high-stakes exams, in many scenarios they are unavoidable. How much do educators need to worry about anxiety influencing exam scores?
