Test anxiety and comprehension efficiency: The role of prior knowledge and working memory deficits

Anxiety, Stress, & Coping

Volumn 5, Issue 2, 1992, Pages 125-138

  Calvo, Manuel G ^a   Ramos, Pedro M ^a   Estevez, Adelina ^a  

^a UNIVERSIDAD DE LA LAGUNA   (Spain)

Author keywords

reading span; reading time; Test anxiety; test comprehension; word knowledge

Indexed keywords

EID: 0001726312     PISSN: 10615806     EISSN: 14772205     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10615809208250492     Document Type: Article

References (32)

1. Anderson, R.C., & Freebody, P. (1986). Vocabulary knowledge. In H. Singer & R.B. Ruddel (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (pp. 343–371). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
2. Baddeley, A. (1986). Working memory. London: Oxford University Press.
3. Baddeley, A., Logie,R., Nimmo-Smith, I., & Brereton, N. (1985). Components of fluent reading. Journal of Memory and Language, 24, 119–131.
4. Blankstein, K.R., Flett, G.L., Boase, P., & Toner, B.B. (1990). Thought listing and endorsement measures of self-referential thinking in test anxiety. Anxiety Research, 2, 103–111.
5. Calvo, M.G. (1985). Effort, aversive representations, and performance in test anxiety. Personality and Individual Differences, 6, 563–572.
6. Calvo, M.G., Alamo, L., & Ramos, P. (1990). Test anxiety, motor performance and learning: Attentional and somatic interference. Personality and Individual Differences, 11, 29–38.
7. Calvo, M.G., & Ramos, P. (1989). Effects of test anxiety on motor learning: The processing efficiency hypothesis. Anxiety Research, 2, 45–55.
8. Covington, M.V., & Omelich, C.L. (1987). “I knew it cold before the exam”: A test of the anxiety-blockage hypothesis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 393–400.
9. Covington, M.V., & Omelich, C.L. (1988). Achievement dynamics: The interaction of motives, cognitions, and emotions over time. Anxiety Research, 1, 165–183.
10. Daneman, M., & Carpenter, P.A. (1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 450–466.
11. Daneman, M., & Green, I. (1986). Individual differences in comprehending and producing words in context. Journal of Memory and Language, 25, 1–18.
12. Darke, S. (1988). Anxiety and working memory capacity. Cognition and Emotion, 2, 145–154.
13. Dijk, T.A. van, & Kintsch, W. (1983). Strategies of discourse comprehension. New York: Academic Press.
14. Dornic, S. (1977). Mental load, effort, and individual differences (Report No. 509). Reports from the Department of Psychology, University of Stockholm.
15. Eysenck, M.W. (1979). Anxiety, learning, and memory: A reconceptualization. Journal of Research in Personality, 13, 363–385.
16. Eysenck, M.W. (1982). Attention and arousal: Cognition and performance. New York: Springer.
17. Eysenck, M.W. (1985). Anxiety and cognitive-task performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 6, 579–586.
18. Eysenck, M.W., & Calvo, M.G. (in press). Anxiety and performance: The processing efficiency theory. Cognition and Emotion.
19. Fincher-Kiefer, R., Post, T. A., Greene, T.R., & Voss, J.M. (1988). On the role of prior knowledge and task demands in the processing of text. Journal of Memory and Language, 27, 416–428.
20. Haberlandt, K., & Graesser, A.C. (1985). Component processes in text comprehension and some of their interactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 114, 357–374.
21. Hodapp, V. (1982). Causal inference from nonexperimental research on anxiety and educational achievement. In H.W. Krohne & L. Laux (Eds.), Achievement stress and anxiety (pp. 355–372). Washington, D.C.: Hemisphere.
22. Holligan, C. & Johnston, R.S. (1988). The use of phonological information by good and poor readers in memory and reading tasks. Memory and Cognition, 16, 522–532.
23. Masson, M.E., & Miller, J.A. (1983). Working memory and individual differences in comprehension and memory of text. Journal of Educational Psychology, 75, 314–318.
24. Rost, D.H., & Schermer, F.J. (1989). The various facets of test anxiety: A subcomponent model of test anxiety measurement. In R. Schwarzer, H.M. van der Ploeg, & C.D. Spielberger (Eds.), Advances in test anxiety research (Vol. 6, pp. 37–52). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Swets & Zeitlinger.
25. Sarason, I.G. (1986). Test anxiety, worry, and cognitive interference. In R. Schwarzer (Ed.), Self-related cognitions in anxiety and motivation (pp. 19–33). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
26. Sarason, I.G. (1988). Anxiety, self-preoccupation and attention. Anxiety Research, 1, 3–7.
27. Schwarzer, R. (1986). Self-related cognitions in anxiety and motivation: An introduction. In R. Schwarzer (Ed.), Self-related cognitions in anxiety and motivation (pp. 1–17). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
28. Spielberger, C.D. & Diaz-Guerrero, R. (1975). IDARE: Inventario de Ansiedad, Rasgo y Estado. Manual e Instructivo. [STAI: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Manual and Instructions]. Mexico: El Manual Moderno.
29. Spielberger, C.D., Gonzalez, H.P., Taylor, C.J., Anton, W.D., Algaze, B., Ross, G.R., & Westberry, L.G. (1980). Test Anxiety Inventory. Preliminary professional manual. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
30. Thurstone, L.L., & Thurstone, T.G. (1979). Primary Mental Abilities Test. (Spanish Version). Madrid: TEA Ediciones.
31. Vega, M. de, Carreiras, M., Calvo, M., & Alonso, M. (1990). Lectura y comprension. Una perspectiva cognitiva. [Reading and comprehension. A cognitive perspective]. Madrid: Alianza.
32. Weinberg, R.S., & Hunt, V. (1976). The interrelationships between anxiety, motor performance, and electromyography. Journal of Motor Behavior, 8, 219–224.