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Test anxiety in elderly and young adults
International Journal of Aging & Human Development
|January 1, 1976
Summary
Elderly college students experience higher test anxiety than young adults, impacting their memory performance. This suggests that anxiety in older individuals can affect cognitive task results.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Gerontology
- Educational Psychology
Background:
- Test anxiety is a significant concern for students.
- Understanding age-related differences in test anxiety is crucial for educational settings.
- Previous research has explored test anxiety in younger populations, but less is known about its prevalence and impact in older adults.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare levels of test anxiety between elderly and young adult college students.
- To investigate the relationship between test anxiety and memory performance in these age groups.
- To identify behavioral manifestations of test anxiety in older adults.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Anxiety Achievement Test to measure test anxiety.
- Employed a free-recall memory experiment as the cognitive task.
- Recruited elderly and young adult college students for participation.
Main Results:
- Elderly students exhibited significantly higher levels of debilitating test anxiety compared to young adults.
- A notable percentage of older participants displayed behavioral signs of test anxiety, including refusal to participate or adverse reactions during testing.
- Test anxiety was found to be correlated with memory performance in both age groups.
Conclusions:
- Older adults are more susceptible to debilitating test anxiety than younger students.
- Affective responses to testing situations can influence cognitive task performance in older individuals.
- Further research should explore interventions to mitigate test anxiety in elderly learners to improve academic outcomes.