Test anxiety, observation, and range of cue utilization

Sixty females scoring high on the Sarason Test Anxiety Scale and 60 scoring low on the same scale served as subjects in an experiment on cue utilization. One-third of all subjects were given a simple learning task with relevant cues added, and one-third were given the task with irrelevant cues added. Half of all subjects in each cue condition were observed by the experimenter as they performed and half were not observed. Relative to subjects in the other conditions combining observation and anxiety, those subjects who were high in test anxiety and also were observed showed a narrower range of cue utilization. The results are discussed in terms of current research on social facilitation.