Eva Torres

HED 044
Project #3
Project #3: Case Study Analysis
According to the American Test Anxiety Association, at least 20 percent of school-going
population suffer from severe test anxiety while another 18 percent have some sort of moderate form of
anxiety. Katya, a freshman student, is no exception to test anxiety. Her hard work and assiduousness to
her studies has paid off, for she has a 3.0 GPA and scholarship.
Although her studying habits have brought her this far, test anxiety has slithered it ugly head and
is threatening her scholarship and her future. In two days she will be having a most important chemistry
test that will decide her scholarship standing. The tension and stress of passing her chemistry test has
provoked severe test anxiety, so much that it has now crippled her studying and has brought forth panic
attacks. As stated earlier, her case is not an isolated one.
Personally, I know what it feels to deal with anxiety and panic attack for I do suffer from anxiety
disorder. Recollecting my junior high and high school life, I can see that I did suffer from it but just
thought it was something normal and that it was because I didn't study enough. I clearly remember the
day where I experienced my first severe anxiety and panic attack. At the time I was nineteen years old and
attending Santa Monica College. I had study more than I ever had done before. I was determined to get a
passing grade on my Psychology mid-term, especially since I found it very interesting and thought I
would major in Psychology.
I felt confident and prepared to take my mid-term, alas it all changed when I sat down and saw
the test before me. I felt the walls closing in, my heart felt like it was going to pop right out of my chest, I
found it harder and harder to breathe, the eyes of the other students and professor piercing right at me, felt
stuck and lost, and the worse feeling of them all was the feeling that I was dying. I found it so scary that I
was only able to write my first name down before I ran out of that room crying like if I were in severe
pain, in reality I was in severe mental pain. I was lucky that this happened during a Psychology class
where my professor was able to understand what I was mentally going through and was able guide me to
get help and retake the test. Let me tell you, anxiety and panic attacks are one of the worse feeling ever
Eva Torres
HED 044
Project #3
possible for humans. It wasn't until I spoke to a professional that I was able to understand the why and
how of my anxiety along with how to properly manage it.
In the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Karl Kirkland and James Hollandsworth
share their findings regarding treatment for test taking anxiety. After their research, which college
freshmen were studied, they found that skills-acquisition is a better solution versus anxiety-reduction
techniques. In other words, if we were to change the way we take tests, we would do a lot better than just
meditating or relaxing prior to taking a test. For example, instead of showing up at the exact time of the
test, we can show up at least 5 minute before in order to not to feel rushed to get started on the test.
Secondly, instead of automatically starting on number one, take a quick look at the whole test and do the
easiest ones first. This should allow you budget the allotted time appropriately.
Now, this does not mean that one shouldn't do any relaxation techniques. On the contrary,
knowing and being able to relax will maximize test taking techniques. Paul D. Nolting, Ph.D., shares with
us short term relaxation, long term relaxation, and negative self-talk. He offers two methods, The Tensing
and Differential relaxation and The Palming Method, that one may do at one's desk right before taking the
test. One includes the physical tensing and relaxing of the muscles all at one while the second one is
visualization where one uses their palms to cover their closed eyes without physically touching the face or
eyes, while visualizing a relaxing scene for two minutes. Of course this only for short term while learning
the long term techniques. This is known as the Cue-Controlled Relaxation Response. This is when after
training oneself, we use certain cue words that will relax us. For example, repeating silently the words "I
am relaxed" should grant immediate relaxation. Lastly, negative self-talk which is a cognitive anxiety, is
when one over worries and starts doubting themselves. We need to, in other words, give ourselves a pep
talk by using positive self-talk with realistic statements.
To conclude, test taking anxiety, along with general anxiety, may be diminished if one informs
themselves of how to treat it. It is not something that will happen overnight but it will make a difference.
The longer one "trains" the better one will become at it. It is all a matter of learning how to take a test and
how to.
Eva Torres
HED 044
Project #3
References
Kirkland, K., & Hollandsworth, J. G. (1980, August). Database Login| Shatford Library at Pasadena City
College. Retrieved from
http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezp.pasadena.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=11&sid=696e4050-7cc0-
48d7-952e-9141398e35ee%40sessionmgr114&hid=109&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%
3d%3d#db=pdh&AN=1981-02065-001
Nolting, Ph. D., P.Retrieved from
https://www.wpi.edu/Images/CMS/ARC/How_to_Reduce_Test_Anxiety.pdf
Strauss, V. (2013, February 10). Test anxiety: Why it is increasing and 3 ways to curb it - The
Washington Post. Retrieved from
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/02/10/test-anxiety-why-it-is-
increasing-and-3-ways-to-curb-it/
Test taking tips. (n.d.). Test Taking Tips. Retrieved from
http://www.testtakingtips.com/test/gentest.htm