I recall the night before the test I was apprehensive; almost fearful for it as I tried not to imagine what sort of test would come from the difficult assignments we'd been getting. So it was with trepidation that I walked into the classroom and sat down at my desk. I expected a similar sense of agitation from my fellow classmates but was surprised when several of them expressed a calm demeanor and said that they felt fine. It was then that I began thinking how interesting it would be to research the differing study habits of the class and see what causes varying degrees of test anxiety among us.
As we learned, it is important to make an operational definition for the anxiety we would be measuring. I think that I would measure the number of times a person fidgets: pumps leg up and down, taps pencil, etc. I would also look at the number of hours spent studying and how late we each went to bed. Personally, I had one hour and 45 minutes of sleep the night before and I feel that that may have contributed to my uneasiness on test day. To be thorough though, and to fit with our biopsychosocial approach, I would also want to observer the Amygdala. An in-depth look at the amygdala would allow me to see the neurological effects the studying times and sleeping schedules were having on the brain and how it effected the anxiety I was measuring. The optimal researhc mode I would want would be a case study so that I would be able to record everything that might lead to greater anxiety levels.
Perhaps based on what I found I would be able to find a way to make test taking less stressful. It might help all of us students for us to engage in this case study.
Very interesting Gidon. A research study on study habits and pre-test rituals would be very helpful to try to find the best way possible to go into a test with the best chance of success. Moreover, on the actual studying side of things, I wonder if overconfidence and hindsight bias impact you study habits and determine how well you do on a test.
ReplyDeleteFor example, is it okay to simply read things and look at notes, or is it better to use flashcards, where you cannot see the answer? The concept of hindsight bias might lead you to use flashcards because if you simply look at notes and see the answers right in front of you, you might think "of course I knew that" when you really did not, and might not know it on test day.
Also, can overconfidence affect your studying? Is there a way to adjust study habits so that you can not be affected by overconfidence?
These are all good things to research and could be very helpful for tests.