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Performance anxiety can be crippling. Entertainers who suffer from it come up with creative defenses. Bono has his purple shades. The indie rock singer Cat Power faces away from the audience. Others turn to more standard solutions like Xanax.
But there might be a healthier quick fix: writing. Because new research reveals that writing about your specific worries just before a performance can reduce the risk of blowing it due to anxiety. The work appears in the journal Science. [Gerardo Ramirez and Sian Beilock, "Writing About Testing Worries Boosts Exam Performance in the Classroom"]
Researchers gave 20 students two math tests. The students did nothing special before the first test. But before the second test, students were told they’d receive money for high marks. Half of the students were then instructed to take 10 minutes and write down any concerns they had about the test. The other half sat quietly.
Those who just sat waiting did 12 percent worse on the second test than on the first. But those who wrote about their fears showed a five percent improvement on the exam.
Another part of the research found that writing in general didn’t work—it had to be about test-related concerns to trigger the effect. So to write may prevent some wrongs.
—Christie Nicholson
[The above text is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
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4 Comments
Add CommentWhat? Just write down my fears of the math test and I will get a higher scores??? Oh, my. It's really a good way to turn the table of all the exams
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd what explains the worse scores of those not writing? Not having read the research report, I suggest that they had to spend their 'wait' time worrying about their performance on the next test, whereas those given the writing exercise were distracted from worrying about the math test. Seems quite simple enough... So, those taking an essay exam should be given distracting math problems?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHere is why, neurologically, I think this exercise worked so well: We think our way into the emotional upsets that trigger fight or flight stress reactions. A persistent fight or flight reaction dumps stress hormones into the bloodstream to the point being toxic. This toxicity debilitates memory (hippocampus)and the higher order brain function (esp. the prefrontal cortex) needed to do well on a test. However, simple awareness of the fearful, stressful thinking literally slows the neural firing triggering the stress response. Through the awareness that the writing exercise generates, one starts to see through the imagined fears and stops empowering them with belief. The primitive brain quiets down and the cerebral cortex lights up. When that happens cognitive and intuitive improvement is inevitable -- in this case 12% improvement, which could be the difference between a B and an A. Awareness exercises work wherever improved performance is the goal. Try it: For two weeks be vigilantly aware of all your anxious, negative thoughts. Refuse to believe any of them during that period. Then see how much your cognitive and creative skills improve, to say nothing of your mood. You'll be amazed.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://donjosephgoewey.com
I think that writing about your concerns before a test is crazy, but if research backs it up that test scores improve then why not try it. Although, I would like more people to have been tested. like hundreds of people. My question is, Did all of the students get the same test as they did on number one for test two?
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