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The Impact of Situational Test Anxiety on Retest Effects in Cognitive Ability Testing: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach.

ABSTRACT: When a cognitive ability is assessed repeatedly, test scores and ability estimates are often observed to increase across test sessions. This phenomenon is known as the retest (or practice) effect. One explanation for retest effects is that situational test anxiety interferes with a testee's performance during earlier test sessions, thereby creating systematic measurement bias on the test items (interference hypothesis). Yet, the influence of anxiety diminishes with test repetitions. This explanation is controversial, since the presence of measurement bias during earlier measurement occasions cannot always be confirmed. It is argued that people from the lower end of the ability spectrum become aware of their deficits in test situations and therefore report higher anxiety (deficit hypothesis). In 2014, a structural equation model was proposed that specifically allows the comparison of these two hypotheses with regard to explanatory power for the negative anxiety-ability correlation found in cross-sectional assessments. We extended this model for usage in longitudinal studies to investigate the impact of test anxiety on test performance and on retest effects. A latent neighbor-change growth curve was implemented into the model that enables an estimation of retest effects between all pairs of successive test sessions. Systematic restrictions on model parameters allow testing the hypothetical reduction in anxiety interference over the test sessions, which can be compared to retest effect sizes. In an empirical study with seven measurement occasions, we found that a substantial reduction in interference upon the second test session was associated with the largest retest effect in a figural matrices test, which served as a proxy measure for general intelligence. However, smaller retest effects occurred up to the fourth test administration, whereas evidence for anxiety-induced measurement bias was only produced for the first two test sessions. Anxiety and ability were not negatively correlated at any time when the interference effects were controlled for. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

SUBMITTER: Jendryczko D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6963292 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The Impact of Situational Test Anxiety on Retest Effects in Cognitive Ability Testing: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach.

Jendryczko David D Scharfen Jana J Holling Heinz H

Journal of Intelligence 20190923 4

When a cognitive ability is assessed repeatedly, test scores and ability estimates are often observed to increase across test sessions. This phenomenon is known as the retest (or practice) effect. One explanation for retest effects is that situational test anxiety interferes with a testee's performance during earlier test sessions, thereby creating systematic measurement bias on the test items (interference hypothesis). Yet, the influence of anxiety diminishes with test repetitions. This explana ...[more]

PMID: 31547510

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Project description:The theory of planned behavior (TPB), socio-cognitive model (SCM), and information-motivation-behavioral skills (IMB) model are effective in predicting condom use. However, the adequacy of these three theoretical models in predicting the frequency of condom use (FCU) among young people has not been compared. This cross-sectional study tested the applicability and suitability of these three models in predicting the FCU, and analyzed the relationships among the postulated constructs.Sexually experienced adolescents (n = 410) aged 13-18 completed a survey assessing the TPB, SCM, and IMB model constructs. Participants were students recruited from 18 high schools, randomly selected from the north, south, east, and southeast of Spain. A structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis was applied to test TPB, SCM and IBM and constructs relationships of each model using R.The results of SEM demonstrated that behavioral skills predict behavior via motivation as hypothesized by the IMB model, but not directly via knowledge about condom use and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Cognitive factors, such knowledge about condom use and STIs as well as condom use self-efficacy, directly predicted the FCU when modeled as per the SCM. According to the TPB, condom use intention was the best predictor of the FCU, and condom use intention was predicted by attitudes toward condom use and subjective norms related to condom use, but perceived control was not directly or indirectly related to the FCU. Based on the data, the TPB becomes the best-fit model for predicting the FCU among young people compared to the SCM and IMB model.From a statistical perspective, the TPB seems to be the most suitable model for predicting the FCU among young people compared to the other models. Overall, key direct predictors of the FCU in adolescents included condom use intention, behavioral skills and cognitive factors, such as STIs knowledge and condom use self-efficacy. The next step should be to test integrative models that include personal, contextual, environmental, and social factors.

Project description:BackgroundMobility and cognitive impairments in Parkinson's disease (PD) often coexist and are prognostic of adverse health events. Consequently, assessment and training that simultaneously address both gait function and cognition are important to consider in rehabilitation and promotion of healthy aging. For this purpose, a computer game-based rehabilitation treadmill platform (GRP) was developed for dual-task (DT) assessment and training.ObjectiveThe first objective was to establish the test-retest reliability of the GRP assessment protocol for DT gait, visuomotor and executive cognitive function in PD patients. The second objective was to examine the effect of task condition [single task (ST) vs. DT] and disease severity (stage 2 vs. stage 3) on gait, visuomotor and cognitive function.MethodsThirty individuals aged 55 to 70 years, diagnosed with PD; 15 each at Hoehn and Yahr scale stage 2 (PD-2) and 3 (PD-3) performed a series of computerized visuomotor and cognitive game tasks while sitting (ST) and during treadmill walking (DT). A treadmill instrumented with a pressure mat was used to record center of foot pressure and compute the average and coefficient of variation (COV) of step time, step length, and drift during 1-min, speed-controlled intervals. Visuomotor and cognitive game performance measures were quantified using custom software. Testing was conducted on two occasions, 1 week apart.ResultsWith few exceptions, the assessment protocol showed moderate to high intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values under both ST and DT conditions for the spatio-temporal gait measures (average and COV), as well as the visuomotor tracking and cognitive game performance measures. A significant decline in gait, visuomotor, and cognitive game performance measures was observed during DT compared to ST conditions, and in the PD-3 compared to PD-2 groups.ConclusionThe high to moderate ICC values along with the lack of systematic errors in the measures indicate that this tool has the ability to repeatedly record reliable DT interference (DTI) effects over time. The use of interactive digital media provides a flexible method to produce and evaluate DTI for a wide range of executive cognitive activities. This also proves to be a sensitive tool for tracking disease progression.Clinical trial registrationwww.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT03232996.

Dataset Information

The Impact of Situational Test Anxiety on Retest Effects in Cognitive Ability Testing: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach.

Publications

The Impact of Situational Test Anxiety on Retest Effects in Cognitive Ability Testing: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach.

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