Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T07:39:18.876Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Humidity, anxiety, and test performance: Maintaining equity in Tropical climates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2015

Kirsten Buchanan  and
Stuart C. Carr
Kirsten Buchanan
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northern Territory University, Darwin NT 0909, North Australia
Stuart C. Carr
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northern Territory University, Darwin NT 0909, North Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

With the advent of global warming, psychological tests are increasingly administered under high levels of environmental humidity, which may combine with test anxiety to disadvantage millions students worldwide. With temperature held constant, 42 Northern Territory (Australian) undergraduates took basic Digit Span and Stroop tests, under conditions of high/low humidity and high/low test rapport (which operationally defined test anxiety). Digit Span performance was significantly depressed both by anxiety and humidity, while Stroop performance was depressed by test anxiety, and marginally affected by an interaction between anxiety and humidity (the latter attenuating negative impact from the former). In the Tropics, the impact of test environment may vary substantially depending on the type of cognitive demands made by the particular assessment task.

Type
Articles
Information
South Pacific Journal of Psychology , Volume 11 , Issue 1 , 1999 , pp. 34 - 43
Copyright
Copyright © University of Papua New Guinea and the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Territory University, Australia 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Auliciems, A. (1972) Some observed relationships between the atmospheric environment and mental work. Environmental Research, 5, 217–240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barlow, D.H., & Durand, V.M. (1995). Abnormal psychology: An integrative approach. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.Google Scholar
Benjamin, M., McKeachie, W.J., Lin, Y-G., & Holinger, D.P. (1981). Test anxiety: Deficits in information processing. Journal of Educational Psychology, 73, 816–824.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Best, J.B. (1995). Cognitive psychology. Minneapolis, WI: West Publishing.Google Scholar
Birenbaum, M., & Pinku, P. (1997). Effects of test anxiety, Information organization, and testing situation on performance on two test formats. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 22, 23–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calvo, M.G., & Carreiras, M. (1993). Selective influence of test anxiety on reading processes. British Journal of Psychology, 84, 375–388.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Culler, R.E., & Holahan, C.J. (1980). Test anxiety and academic performance: The effects of study related behaviours. Journal of Educational Psychology, 72, 16–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eysenck, M.W. (1985). Anxiety and cognitive task performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 6, 579–586.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fine, B.J., Cohen, A., & Crist, B. (1960). Effect of exposure to high humidity at high and moderate ambient temperature on anagram solution and auditory discrimination. Psychological Reports, 7, 171–181.Google Scholar
Gipps, C., & Murphy, P. (1996) A fair test? Milton Keynes, UK: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Gregory, R. J. (1996). Psychological testing: History, principles, and applications (2nd edition). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon Google Scholar
Grimm, L.G. (1993). Statistical applications for the behavioural sciences. Canada: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Howarth, E., & Hoffman, M.S. (1984) A multidimensional approach to the relationship between mood and weather. British Journal of Psychology, 75, 15–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Humphreys, M.S., & Revelle, W. (1984). Personality, motivation, and performance: A theory of the relationship between individual differences and information processing. Psychological Review, 92, 153–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ikeda, M., Iwanaga, M., & Seiwa, H. (1996). Test anxiety and working memory system. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 82, 1223–1135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, D.M., & Neal, A.B. (1984). The climate of Northern Australia. In Parkes, J. (Ed.), Northern Australia: The arenas of life and ecosystems on half a continent (pp 29–55). Newcastle, Australia: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacLeod, C.M. (1991) Half a century of research on the Stroop effect: An integrative review. Psychological Bulletin, 109, 163–203.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martens, R. (1971). Anxiety and motor behaviour: A review. Journal of Motor Behaviour, 3, 151–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naveh-Benjamin, M., McKeachie, W.J., & Lin, Y-G. (1987). Two types of test anxious students: Support for an information processing model. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 131–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neiss, R.(1988). Reconceptualizing arousal: Psychobiological states in motor performance. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 345–366.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neiss, R. (1990). Ending arousal's reign of error: A reply to Anderson. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 101–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reading, A.J., Thompson, R.D., & Millington, A.C. (1995). Humid tropical environments. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Sanders, J.L., & Brizzolara, M.S. (1982). Relationships between weather and mood. The Journal of General Psychology, 107, 155–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarason, I.G. (1984). Stress, anxiety and cognitive interference: Reaction to tests. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 929–938.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shapiro, Y., Moran, D., & Epstein, Y. (1998). Acclimatisation strategies: Preparing for exercise in the heat. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 2, 161–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharma, V.M., Pichan, G., & Panwar, M.R. (1983). Differential effects of hot-humid and hot-dry environments on mental functions. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 52, 315–327.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Solso, R.L. (1995) Cognitive Psychology (4th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Stroop, J.R. (1953). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. American Journal of Psychology, 18, 643–662.Google Scholar
Topman, R.M., & Jansen, T. (1984). “I really can't do it anyway”: The treatment of test anxiety. In van der Ploeg, H.M., Schwartzer, R., & Speilberger, C.J. (Eds.). Advances in test anxiety research. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Treisman, A.M. (1960). Contextual cues in selective listening. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 12, 242–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tryon, G.S. (1980). The measurement and treatment of test anxiety. Review of Educational Research, 50, 343–327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tucker, G.B. (1981). The CO2-climate connection: A global problem from an Australian perspective. Canberra: Australian Academy of Science.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1981). Manual for the Weshsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised. San Antonio, CA: Psychological Cooperation.Google Scholar
Yerkes, R.M., & Dodson, J.D. (1908) The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit formation. Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology, 18, 459–482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zajonc, R. B. (1965). Social facilitation. Science, 149, 269–274.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed