Exploring the relationship of test anxiety and metacognition on reading test performance: A cognitive analysis

This study explored the relationship between test anxiety and metacognitive word knowledge on performance on a standardized reading comprehension test. One hundred and seventeen (117) college students participated by completing three paper and pencil measures: (1) a self-report measure of test anxiety; (2) a metacognitive word knowledge task; and (3) a standardized measure of reading comprehension. The results of a series of multiple regression analyses suggest that the cognitive component of test anxiety (worry) exerted a negative influence on students' performance on the metacognitive word knowledge task, independent of overall reading ability. Additional analyses suggest that once initial reading ability is controlled, both anxious worrying and metacognitive word knowledge jointly influence performance on a standardized measure of reading comprehension. On the most cognitively demanding reading comprehension tasks, however, metacognitive word knowledge interacted with worry, such that when anxious worrying was low, increases in metacognitive word knowledge were associated with higher performance; and when anxious worrying was high, increases in metacognitive word knowledge were associated with lower levels of performance. The findings are discussed within a cognitive capacity framework of test anxiety.