Exam anxiety

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The test anxiety (Engl. Test anxiety ) is a fear before the evaluation of personal power that can prevent the person concerned to put at his knowledge and / or skills in an audit proof. If the anxiety level is moderate, it can also lead to an increase in performance. It can only be classified as a disease in special cases. According to its classification, according to DSM-IV, it is a special form of social evaluation anxiety ( social phobia ) , but according to ICD-10 it is classified as a specific phobia. Test anxiety occurs to a greater extent in people with learning disabilities or behavioral problems than in people without such problems.

Emergence

Relationship between fear and performance

Exam anxiety arises from someone experiencing fear (or its symptoms ) before or during an exam. It can impair the performance of those affected, but is also used by the examinees as a pretext to excuse or explain unsatisfactory performance or "mental blocks". Occasionally, especially during university exams, examiners of exam anxiety can be exposed to similar (albeit less manifest and not threatened by sanctions) tensions, for example due to inexperience or in peer-to-peer exams. Like the test subjects, according to the economist Hans-Otto Schenk , the examiners also have specific methods for "autogenic" and "heterogeneous" stress relief.

During cognitive development, exam anxiety can first develop between the ages of eight and eleven. Poor school or athletic performance is seen as the cause , which compromises the self-esteem of those affected, which is based on athletic and mental performance.

Handling

Pathological anxiety states must be diagnosed and treated. It is necessary to bring the natural state of tension to an individually bearable level before an examination. For this purpose, a test subject who starts slowly needs stimulating measures, a test subject who tends to be anxious, to dampen his mental state. It cannot be about avoiding fear, but rather learning to deal with fear and using it productively.

The didactician Siegbert A. Warwitz therefore does not consider a slight excitement in the form of stage fright to be detrimental, but rather beneficial for a good examination attitude, as it increases the level of alertness and increases attention, concentration and the ability to react. He recommends his students to:

  • Early confrontation with exam situations of all kinds, which should initially also be self-exams (getting used to exams)
  • Systematic organization of exams in the form of long-term time planning and preparation with full waiting time in the last three days (relaxation, freeing up your thoughts)
  • Exam simulations in the preparatory stage
  • Taking advantage of opportunities to sit in on exams
  • Familiarize yourself with the peculiarities of the examiner, his questioning technique, his specialties, his favorite questions, his aversions
  • Avoid fear-inducing conversations with other examinees
  • Refraining from conceptual studies or exam interviews immediately before the appointment
  • Avoiding the challenge of examiner errors (do not issue yourself an unfavorable certificate)
  • Autosuggestion in the sense of: “I can do it, I am well prepared, I can do it, others can do it too, there is no failure. . . "

Disease value

Classification according to ICD-10
F40 Phobic disorder
F41 Other anxiety disorder
ICD-10 online (WHO version 2019)

Examination anxiety is considered to be pathological if it represents a significant impairment of the patient, causes problems in the social environment and - especially in childhood - prevents the person's normal development. It is not shown exactly in the ICD code , but this classification must also be used here.

In the United States, this phobia is recognized as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act , provided the disability is proven and documented , and special exam routines are offered if the relevant application is submitted at least 30 days before the exam begins. However, test anxiety is usually not recognized from the outset as a corresponding disability within the meaning of the law.

therapy

In cases in which the test anxiety has the character of a disease, targeted therapy makes sense. In addition to regulating the personal level of anxiety and technical or organizational measures such as “positive thinking”, effective learning, improving the transparency of exams and relaxation exercises, this can also include psychiatric therapeutic approaches such as those used for other forms of anxiety disorders . Possible side effects should be considered, especially with drug treatments.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ F. Strian: anxiety and anxiety disorders. CH Beck, 1996, ISBN 3-406-39007-2 , p. 55. (online at: books.google.de)
  2. ↑ Lydia Fehm, Thomas Fydrich: test anxiety . Hogrefe Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-8409-1610-6 ( google.de [accessed on August 16, 2015]).
  3. ^ Sue Swanson, Carol Howell: Test anxiety in adolescents with learning disabilities and behavior disorders. In: Exceptional Children . tape 62 , 1996. (Summary)
  4. ↑ S. Preiser: Pedagogical Psychology. Juventa, 2003, ISBN 3-7799-1522-7 , p. 221. (online at: books.google.de)
  5. ↑ a b S. Schneider: Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. Springer, 2004, ISBN 3-540-42917-4 , p. 88. (online at: books.google.de)
  6. ↑ Cf. on this Hans-Otto Schenk: Die Examensarbeit. UTB 2657, Göttingen 2005, pp. 100-108.
  7. ↑ a b J. Hoyer: Anxiety diagnosis. Springer, 2003, ISBN 3-540-43482-8 , pp. 12ff. (online at: books.google.de)
  8. ↑ Hans Morschitzky : Anxiety disorders. Diagnostics, explanatory models, therapy and self-help for pathological anxiety . Vienna 1998.
  9. ^ A. Lohaus et al.: Coping with stress for children and adolescents. Springer, 2007, pp. 203ff. (online at: books.google.de)
  10. ^ Siegbert A. Warwitz: Avoiding Fear - Searching for Fear - Learning to Fear. In: thing-word-number. 112 (2010), pp. 10-15.
  11. ^ Siegbert A. Warwitz: Optimal examination organization and handling of examiner errors. In: Ders .: Lecture series on experimental sport psychology. Scripts from the Karlsruhe University of Education 1995–2002.
  12. ↑ S. Frauenknecht et al.: Intensive course in psychiatry and psychotherapy. Urban & Fischer-Verlag, ISBN 3-437-42132-8 , p. 234ff. (online at: books.google.de)
  13. ↑ GE Zuriff: Accommodations for test anxiety under ADA? In: J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 1997; 25 (2), pp. 197-206. PMID 9213292
  14. ^ William A. Kaplin, Barbara A. Lee, The Law of Higher Education . Wiley, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7879-7095-6 , pp. 447 ( online at: books.google.de ).
  15. ↑ Disability Resources of the University of Minnesota Duluth , (online at: d.umn.edu) , last accessed on Jan. 18, 2009.
  16. ^ A. Lohaus et al.: Coping with stress for children and adolescents. Springer, 2007, pp. 204–210, (online at: books.google.de)
  17. ↑ Evaluation of studies on behavior before exams

Web links

Wiktionary: Test anxiety  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

literature

  • Lydia Fehm, Thomas Fydrich: Exam anxiety . Hogrefe, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-84091-610-6 .
  • Ralph Haber, Richard Alpert : Test Anxiety. In: Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. Volume 13, 1958.
  • Helga Knigge-Illner: Conquering exam anxiety: How to master challenges with confidence. Campus-Verlag , 2010, ISBN 978-3-593-39175-5 .
  • Holger Walther: Study without fear of exams. 2nd revised edition, UTB, Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-8252-4367-8 .
  • Siegbert A. Warwitz: Forms of fear behavior. In: Ders .: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings . Verlag Schneider, 2nd expanded edition, Baltmannsweiler 2016, ISBN 978-3-8340-1620-1 .
  • Siegbert A. Warwitz: Avoid fear - seek fear - learn to fear. In: thing-word-number. 112, 2010, pp. 10-15.