Test Anxiety and Exam Performance

( Overcome Exam Anxiety — or Use It )

Basic principles of performance are summarized in this paragraph (from a section about Improving Exam Performance) which, in the page it's quoted from, is followed by brief tips for Self Knowledge, Motivation, and Practice:
      Some exam excitement is normal and — if you use it wisely — is helpful.  Instead of interpreting this as harmful “anxiety” you can choose to think of it as helpful “energetic alertness”.  You can use your nervous energy for constructive action, and/or try to get more relaxed, physically and mentally, by breathing in a way that is slow, deep, and natural.  However you feel, it's OK, because whether you feel excited or relaxed, it's what you do that counts, so just concentrate on the here-and-now action of answering the exam questions.    { In most situations, experienced speakers, stage performers and athletes get excited before their event.  But once the action begins, their focus quickly shifts to doing whatever they have to do, and they perform well.  And so can you. }

      Tim Gallwey, author of The Inner Game of Tennis and similar books, shares a useful idea:
POTENTIAL - INTERFERENCE = PERFORMANCE,
where POTENTIAL Performance depends on your ABILITIES-plus-PREPARATION,
and INTERFERENCE is minimized by ignoring “extras” that would distract you, which
ALLOWS YOU TO DO PRODUCTIVE ACTION that will maximize your Actual PERFORMANCE.
      For more about The Inner Game, read Mike the Mentor & Idea Sandbox & Success Builder & Winton Bates & Corporate Mentor & Academic Advising & and more (even Dog Handling!) plus amazon reviews for The Inner Game of Work & The Inner Game of Music & more if you google the internet.

Eventually, I (the editor, Craig Rusbult) will search for useful web-pages about test anxiety & exam performance so I can describe them and link to them.
 

Copyright © 2008 by Craig Rusbult
all rights reserved