
Test anxiety and stress are both factors that have become very prominent in my life because I am a first year college student who is adjusting to a completely different lifestyle. Studying the relationship between anxiety with test results and how students perform academically is a research topic that can not only benefit me as a student now and in future years, but also can assist other college students struggling to find ways to cope with anxiety or stress before major assignments and upcoming tests. This topic is highly relevant to me and is the reason I have developed such an interest in researching the relationship between these two ideas. Stress, anxiety, and test results affect me along with my values because I am a nursing major and will soon have to apply to an upper division program based strictly on grade point average. Acceptance or rejection into this program will easily determine the likelihood of my future. This process is extremely competitive, so doing well in my courses has become a priority. Studying the relationship between test anxiety and stress can also simply increase my knowledge on handling my own test anxiety and help me to become a better student and test taker. I am qualified to write about this topic because I have firsthand experience on the issue and have already started and plan to continue doing an immense amount of research on this problem to generate as much accurate information I can regarding the relationships between test anxiety and stress.

My first article studies the relationship between facilitating and debilitating responses to test anxiety. It states that having anxiety before a test is considered normal, but how the anxiety is handled can be tested and measured on an Alpert-Haber (AAT+ and AAT-) scale. Students who use their anxiety to develop new and effective study habits are classified under AAT+, while those who procrastinate and do not study well due to anxiety are placed under AAT-. Researchers Speilberger and Weitz took groups of freshman college students and tested them to see where they scored according to this scale. As predicted, the students that place in the AAT+ category use their anxiety to jump on assignments early and study more effectively, while those who fall under the AAT- category are more test anxious and do not thrive as well academically. This article is credible because it gives evidence of actual test results from an experiment, along with many citations listed at the end of the article as to where the information came from. When conducting the experiment, students are picked randomly according to age and gender which eliminates bias in the test results. Wittmaier has written an article on the research of Speilberger and Weitz and lists the statistics and findings of the research process with no evidence of bias in the article. The only issue I found when analyzing this research article is that the date of publication is 1972. Due to the rapid and changing developments of technology in society, the article can be considered outdated and has potential to have inaccurate responses.

My second article argues that test anxiety has a negative aspect in testing atmospheres and states that anxiety should be considered a "psychiatric disorder" among students. It claims that students who have major testing anxiety should be allowed to have special accommodations, such as unlimited time when taking tests to assist them with their disability and help them perform better academically. Authors Jonas and Jessica Lang take two different studies and examine the results. The first study shows results of students who claim to be "test anxious" and places them in a normal, timed atmosphere along with all other students. The second places the test anxious students in a private room, giving them an unlimited amount of time. After viewing the results, Jonas and Lang conclude that students who suffer from test anxiety are able to perform better academically, especially after being given the accommodations they needed. I found no bias when reading the article because after performing the experiment, the claims made prove to be valid. There are also many credible authors and sources listed at the end of the article and the date of publication is in 2010, so I know that this article is updated and valid.  

My third article is written by Donna L. Mealey and Timothy R. Host and studies the different methods of coping with test anxiety. These authors argue that annotating and doing certain test-preparation activities will reduce anxiety and help students perform better on their exams. The authors also argue that having effective study methods beforehand can help students feel more confident and distract them from their anxiety while taking a test. Another statement the author makes in the article states anxiety increases for a student whenever teachers try to intimidate them and make it appear that the test will be impossible to take. If teachers reduce this method of teaching, the anxiety of the students will also decrease and it has potential to help students perform better on a test. These authors are credible because all statements in the article are supported by a quote from a well-respected scholar that studies the field of anxiety, and there are also many credible sources listed at the end of the article. The date of publication is 1992, which makes it slightly outdated but still a very credible and reliable source.

This research question is arguable because there are very many different opinions on ways to reduce anxiety before taking tests or completing major assignments. People can argue about different atmospheres or situations and how they enhance or reduce anxiety, and it can also be argued how anxiety affects test taking skills. Some might say that a little anxiety can help a student and cause them to perform better academically, while others may say that it only hurts the student. Among the sources I have found, I have discovered that Speilberger and Weitz agree with Jonas and Jessica Lang by saying anxiety is a real disorder and depending on the how the anxiety is handled can change the results of test performance. I found that Mealey and Host say instead of studying the actual test results, coping with anxiety can be better controlled if you take action before an exam and plan to study accordingly. These different perspectives of the sources do not directly affect my own, rather give me a clear idea on ways anxiety alters test performance. To modify my research question in the future, I need to possibly find a more direct argument about test anxiety and performance on tests to create an improved and more direct argument within my research.

