No evidence for a curvilinear relationship between arousal and test performance¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2021 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Adding a quadratic term for arousal did not significantly improve model fit for any performance measure or for the mathematics grade, contradicting a Yerkes-Dodson-style prediction. → Schillinger 2021

Evidence¶

Schillinger 2021¶

Schillinger, F. L., Mosbacher, J. A., Brunner, C., Vogel, S. E., & Grabner, R. H. (2021). Revisiting the Role of Worries in Explaining the Link Between Test Anxiety and Test Performance. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09601-0

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Model-comparison tests adding a quadratic arousal term to each regression model (e.g., intelligence χ2(1) = 0.04, p = .834; grade χ2(1) = 0.41, p = .523). The article states "the model fit did not improve significantly by including a quadratic term of the predictor arousal for any of the above-described models."

"The model fit did not improve significantly by including a quadratic term of the predictor arousal for any of the above-described models (see also Figs. 2 and 3)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Arousal showed a positive relationship with final high school mathematics grade when controlling for the other test anxiety facets — related
• Effortful regulation is maximized at moderate levels of emotional and physiological reactivity and declines at very low or very high levels — a broader claim this one bears on
• Interference and lack of confidence, but not worry or arousal, explain unique variance in university students' standardized test performance — related
• Worry did not explain unique variance in students' test performance or mathematics grade, challenging the worry-based explanation of the test anxiety-performance link — related
• Proportions of variance explained follow a curvilinear pattern across the six taxonomy levels — related
• The present results replicate Donati et al.'s (2019) finding that interference and lack of confidence, but not worry, relate to arithmetic test performance, extending it to unique variance and domain-general intelligence — related