Cross-Modal Measurement of Test-Anxiety

Abstract

This study involved the measurement of test-anxiety by an indirect method. 40 Ss were asked to match intensities of a 1000-Hz tone to subjective levels of experienced anxiety under two conditions, on a day just prior to taking a routine college course examination and on a day when no course examinations were scheduled. In addition, Ss were asked to complete an Affect Adjective Check List (AACL) which permitted a self-description of the degree of anxiety felt under the two conditions. The results indicate that both the crossmodal matching technique and the AACL differentiated between test and control days. These findings indicate that Ss were indeed capable of matching the relative changes in the level of experienced test-anxiety with changes in the amplitude of an auditory stimulus.