Stress Response Associated with Finishing a Test Slower than One’s Peers
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Date
2017Author
Grosser, John
Chapman, Emma
Maio, Talia
Peterson, Chelsey
Ross III, David
Publisher
Journal of Advanced Student Sciences (JASS)
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Numerous non-academic variables, such as negative emotions, confidence, and
cognitive appraisal, influence one’s success on a test. Such indirect time pressures applied to
test-taking situations may influence one’s cognitive self-assessments, and consequently, one’s
confidence during a test. Collectively, these variables may affect one’s performance on a test. In
this study, the participant was falsely told he or she was taking part in a study involving how
sleep affects test performance. Two confederates took the test with the participant, and were
signaled to finish before the participant was done with the test. Subjects’ heart rates, blood
pressures, and skin conductances were measured throughout the test, and averages were
compared at three intervals: before the first confederate left, between the departures of the two
confederates, and after the second confederate left. This research focused on how finishing
slower than one’s peers may affect stress levels while taking a test. It was hypothesized that a
slight increase in blood pressure and skin conductance and a larger increase in heart rate would
be observed upon realizing one was completing the test slower. While each variable measured
increased slightly on average, these increases were not statistically significant. These findings
reveal that spending more time taking a test than one’s peers does not necessarily cause
physiological changes in heart rate, skin conductance, and blood pressure.
Subject
Cognitive Appraisal
Emotional Regulation
stress
Heart Rate
blood pressure
Skin Conductance
Test Performance
Wordsearch
Test Pressure
Permanent Link
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/81877Description
An article that appeared in JASS, issue 2017