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Group Desensitization of TestAnxiety in Elementary SchoolArreed F. Barabasz aa State University College at BuffaloPublished online: 02 Jul 2010.

To cite this article: Arreed F. Barabasz (1973) Group Desensitization of Test Anxietyin Elementary School, The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 83:2,295-301, DOI: 10.1080/00223980.1973.9915617

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00223980.1973.9915617

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Published as a separate and in The Journal of Psychology, 1973, 83, 295-301.

GROUP DESENSITIZATION OF TEST ANXIETY I N ELEMENTARY SCHOOL*

Slate University College at Buflalo

ARREED F. BARABASZ

SUMMARY

Fifth and sixth grade students (N = 87) were divided into High Test Anxious and Low Test Anxious groups on the basis of galvanic skin responses (GSR). Ss identified as High Anxious responded positively to group sys- tematic desensitization procedures, exhibiting significantly ( p < .05) Iower autonomic indices of test anxiety and significantly ( p < .001) improved criterion test scores. Low Anxious Ss exposed to the systematic desensitization program demonstrated no significant change in criterion test scores.

A. INTRODUCTION Several investigations have shown the debilitating effects of test anxiety on

test scores (6, 14, 17, 18). This negative relationship exists a t all elementary school levels (17, 19). Highly anxious students receive lower grades and have a higher academic failure rate than nonanxious or low anxious students of equivalent intelligence (20, 2 1 ). Paul and Eriksen ( 15) support the notion that high test anxious students suffer impaired performance under regular examination or testing conditions because of heightened physiological activity and self-depreciating ruminations. Negroes have been shown to be signifi- cantly more test anxious than Caucasians on the basis of galvanic skin re- sponse (GSR) comparisons ( 1 ).

Wolpe (24) described a technique of psychotherapy by reciprocal inhibition in which anxiety responses are extinguished when aroused in temporal con- tiguity with a psychological stiite antagonistic to anxiety. This procedure of systematic desensitization consists of gradual introduction of progressivdy stronger phohic stimuli while deep relaxation is employed as the anxiety in- hiliiting state. Autonomic effects accompanying deep relaxation have beeti

* Received in the Editorial Office on January 19, 1973, and publihcd immediately at

1 The project was supported by a grant from the Research Foundation of the state Provincetown, Massachusetts. Copyright by The Journal Press.

University of New York, Contract No. 021-7126-A.

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demonstrated to be diametrically opposed to those characteristic of anxiety. Jacobson (7 , S) discovered a decrease in pulse rate and blood pressure coin- cident with deep muscle relaxation. Galvanic skin resistance increases while respiration becomes slower and more regular during relaxation (3 , 2 5 ) . Sys- tematic tlesensitiLation has been demonstrated to be highly effective in con- trolled eqm-imental studies, as well as in clinical experience with adults individually or in groups or with children individually (2, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 21, 25) .

Few studies have dealt with anxiety related to school. Paul and Shannon (16) desensitizer1 college males by group method and found a significant improvement in grade point average. Only one study has been located in the liteiature which deals directly with group desensitization of test anxiety. Cohen ( 4 ) desensitized undergraduates who had scored in the upper 30 per- cent on the Test Ansiety Scale. Results indicated a significant decrease in test anxiety scores and a significant inciease in grade point average for the eslwimental subjects. Children have also been successfully treated with similar techniques in individual settings ( 12), but group desensitization of test ansiety has not been attempted.

’The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether or not fifth and sixtli gr‘ide elementary school students could be successfully countercon- ditioned to test ansiety in their regular homeroom settings with a resultant reduction in physiologically measured anxiety as well as raised criterion test scores. On the basis of Wolpe’s theory of reciprocal inhibition it was hypothe- si7ed that test ansious subjects exposed to the systematic desensitization program would eshibit lower autonomic indices of test anxiety and show a significant improvement of scores on the criterion test.

B. METHOD

1. SziBjccts

Ss con5isted of tifth and sixth grade students enrolled at the Campus School, State I‘niversity College a t Buffalo, S e w York (ZV = 87). The sample rep- resented both middle and lower socioeconomic levels, as well as both I\u’epioes and Caucasians, as determined by occupations of Ss’ fathers (22). Ss were randomly assigned to homeroom groups at the beginning of the school year.

2. Procedure

To provide a pretreatment criterion measure the Lorge-Thorndike Intelli- gence ‘Test was simultaneously administered to all groups of students in t G r

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ARREED F. BARABASZ 297

regular classroonu via video taped instructions. Ss were told that the test results would be placed on their permanent record cards. [Mild threat in academic and test situations serves to elicit anxiety (5, 13, 23).]

Ss were divided into High Test Anxious and Low Test Anxious groups with use of the Lafayette 76012 Polygraph Model C. Galvanic skin resistance was transmitted via finger electrodes, and heart rate via photoelectric finger ple- thysmograph. Electrodes were attached to the volar surface of the proximal phalanx on the third and fourth digits on each of the S’s hands. Ss were ex- posed to an audio tape recording which asked them to visualize the following 15 situations. (There was a 10 second pause between each stimulus. The. stimulus designed to arouse test anxiety was placed last so as to provide ample time for establishing each S’s autonomic response baseline.)

1. Picture yourself sitting in front of a fireplace on a cold winter’s day. 2. Picture yourself by the ocean on a summer day with a warm breeze

3. Picture yourself in your favorite chair watching television. 4. Picture yourself resting on the couch after a large meal. 5 . Picture yourself lying on the grass fishing in a still pond. 6. Picture yourself lying under a tree listening to a little brook. 7. Picture yourself in front of a fish tank watching the fish slowly swim

8. Picture yourself lying on the beach watching the sea gulls glide slow-

9. Picture yourself watching large snow flakes drift to the ground. 10. Picture yourself watching a kite fly in the sky. 11. Picture yourself lying on a rug listening to the radio. 12. Picture yourself watching two rabbits play in the back yard. 13. Picture yourself lying in bed and looking out your window watching a

robin build a nest. 14. Picture yourself lying in a leaf pile watching the leaves spiral down on

an autumn day. 15. Picture yourself taking a difficult examination that determines whether

you pass or fail. The experimental groups consisted of one sixth grade and one fifth grade

comprised of High Test Anxious and Low Test Anxious Ss. The groups were exposed to a systematic desensitization program on five consecutive days. Ss participated in their regular homeroom settings with the instructions of E and with a reduction in room lighting. Wolpe’s (26) relaxation training procedure was employed in conjunction with a test anxiety hierarchy constructed by the

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investigator. The first two days stressed only relaxation training. The test anxiety hierarchy was gradually introduced during the remaining three days. E’s speed of progression through the list was modified by S’s input. Ss indi- cated feelings of anxiety in response to a stimulus on the hierarchy by raising their hands. When stimuli evoked more than two hands raised, E repeated the prior stimulus in the hierarchy emphasizing relaxation. Brief repetitions of relaxation inducing stimuli were reintroduced until the two hand maximum was attained.’

The control group consisted of one sixth grade and one fifth grade com- prised of High Test Anxious and Low Test Anxious Ss. This group was not exposed to the desensitization program.

Upon termination of treatments the Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Test (Form 2 ) was administered to experimental and control groups. Once again Ss were told that the results would be placed on their permanent record card. All Ss were then re-esamined hy the polygraph as outlined previously.

C. RESULTS In order to determine whether or not the systematic desensitization pro-

gram influenced Ss’ galvanic skin resistance, t tests were calculated comparing the posttreatment scores of Experimental High Anxious versus Control High Anxious and Esperimental Low Anxious versus Control Low Anxious Ss. The results appear in Table 1.

The results presented in Table 1 demonstrate that Experimental Ss pre- treatment classified as High Anxious had significantly ( p < .05) lower GSR scores than the High Anxious Controls. Computation of omega square showed 14% estimate of the degree of statistical association. The GSR scores of Experimental and Control Ss pretreatment classified as Low Anxious were not found to differ significantly.

Heart rate data failed to differentiate between High and Low Anxious Ss on the pretreatment polygraph tests. Analysis for heart rate was, therefore, not attempted.

In order to determine whether or not the desensitization program resulted in an improvement in the 1,orge-Thorndike criterion test scores, analysis of variance (I<ruskal-\Vallis) was computed on the raw equivalency change scores for Experimental High Anxious, Experimental Low Anxious, Control High Anxious, and Control Low Anxious SS. The Lorge-Thorndike equivalency table equated scores for the parallel forms administered. Change in scores was determined on a pre-post test basis for each S. Nonnornial Lorge-Thorndike

2 Anxiety hierarchy transcripts may be obtained by writing the author at the address shown at the end of this article.

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TABLE 1

FOR HIGH AND Low ANXIOUS SUBJECTS CONTROL AND EXPERIMENTAL POSTTREATMENT GALVANIC S ~ p r RESPONSE COMPARISONS

Omega Group N 3? t square

Experimental High

Control High

Experimental Low

Control Law

Anxious 20 1.28 US. 2.64* .I4

AllXiOUS 17 2.79

Anxious 22 1.26 us. .2s

Anxious 24 1.35

score distributions, due to the high-low anxiety Mocking, and unequal vari- ances necessitated the use of the nonparametric test. The Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance yielded a significant H of 16.64 ( p < .001) for the over- all comparison. Experimental Ss pretreatment classified as High Anxious showed a significant improvement in criterion scores as contrasted with Con- trol High Anxious Ss (H = 9.39, p < .01). No significant difference in criterion scores was demonstrated for the Experimental Low Anxious Ss as compared with the Control Low Anxious Ss (H = .34, p > -05) .

D. DISCUSSION The results support the hypothesis that test anxious Ss exposed to the

systematic desensitization program would exhibit lower autonomic indices of test anxiety and show a significant improvement of scores on the criterion measure. These findings are consistent with Wolpe’s theory of reciprocal in- hibition. High Test Anxious Ss exposed to the systematic desensitization program exhibited significantly lower anxiety scores, as measured by galvanic skin resistance, than the High Test Anxious Controls, while no significant difference was found between Low Anxious Experimentals and Low Anxious Controls. High Test Anxious Ss exposed to the desensitization program demonstrated a significant improvement in their Lorge-Thorndike criterion test scores, while no significant changes resulted for the other groups of Ss. It is of particular interest that the criterion test scores of the Low Anxious Ex- perimental Ss did not change significantly. Evidently the relaxation training did not impair these Ss’ test taking motivation. Implementation of classroom programs for test anxiety desensitization is apparently simplified, since there seems to be no indication that Low Test Anxious Ss would have to be segre-

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gated from the treatment settings. Further replication is, however, recom- mended. Differential spacing or massing of desensitization sessions and the feasibility of training classroom teachers to carry out the program might also be studied.

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