Supporting your child with assessments

1) What does the research say about the effects of test anxiety/stress?

Neuroimaging research reveals that high-stress environments disrupt the brain’s learning acquisition and memory retrieval. The flow of information into and out of memory requires that it pass through the amygdala. In a neutral or positive state—when students are comfortable and confident in their ability to do their best—information can pass through the amygdala to get to and from the memory storage and executive function networks in the prefrontal cortex.

In a high-stress state, the amygdala reduces the flow of information to the prefrontal cortex, reducing access to the information stored in memory and providing less guidance from the executive function networks.

With less access to the executive functions of emotional self-regulation and judgment, students are limited to a narrow set of behavior responses: fight, flight, or freeze. They have less cognitive ability and judgment to evaluate test questions and their own responses.

Information retrieved from the post, "Building Metacognition Into Test Prep." Edutopia.com, https://www.edutopia.org/article/building-metacognition-test-prep