Experimental and Biological Base of Behavior - Lab Report Example

Experimental and Biological Base of Behavior Question Article summary Guided imagery is a non pharmacologic method of treatment for aiding the patients to establish sensory rich images in the brain in order to achieve relaxation, body awareness and concentration. This treatment therapy is useful in managing chronic tension-type headaches. The objective for carrying out this study was to determine the effect of imagery guided by adjuvant, on patients suffering from chronic tension-type headache. Another objective was to determine the effects of guided imagery and individualized therapy on short term QoL in patients suffering from chronic headaches. The hypotheses of the study were that patients under the guided imagery therapy together with individualized therapy would give high QoL scores in relation to the emotional functioning and pain. Improved QoL scores would, therefore, translate to the effectiveness of the GI technique, and an option of a low cost adjuvant therapy to the treatment of chronic tension-type headache (Mannix et al, 1999). The study involved one hundred and twenty nine participants, who were patients suffering from chronic tension-type headache. These patients completed the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-36) and the Headache Disability Inventory, during the first visit and after one month in the specialty headache center. The SF-36 measured eight domains of the QoL including role functioning impairments due to physical aspects of health, general health perceptions, social functioning, mental health, physical functioning, bodily pain, vitality, and role functioning impairments on emotional health. The HDI measured the disabilities perceived by the patients in emotional and functional domains. The procedure for the study involved listening to a guided imagery audiocassette every day for a time frame of one month. This treatment method was carried out alongside the individualized headache therapy, while the control patients only received the individualized headache therapy minus the GI (Mannix et al, 1999). The results as reflected in the article revealed that patients and control subjects who used GI had improved headache severity, frequency, quality of life, patient global assessment and disabilities resulting from headaches. Significant improvements were reported by more of the GI patients as compared to the controls in terms of the headache frequencies. These significant improvements in the GI patients were noticeably in three of the SF-36 domains including bodily pain, mental health and vitality. The GI treatment was found to be an effective adjunct therapy that is useful in managing chronic tension-type headache. The patients exhibited relaxation and were empowered with stress-reduction techniques. The materials used for this therapy also showed that it is a cost effective treatment method. The use of GI also gains advantage from lacking side effects characterized by pharmacological treatment (Mannix et al, 1999). Question 2 The influence of anxiety on student test performance Introduction Test anxiety is a common form of anxiety that occurs in response to taking exams or tests. It is a condition characterized by an unpleasant state of emotions together with feelings of apprehension, worry, tension and nervousness. Anxiety can be identified in several ways such as rapid heart rate with tachycardia and palpitations, mouth dryness, dizziness, restlessness, weakness, high blood pressure, sweating, nausea, hyperventilation, and tremors. In a test situation, a difficult exam can lead to a high number or severity of the consequences, and; therefore, the students will perceive the test as threatening. These students are prone to suffer from varying degrees of the effects of anxiety that are situation specific (Reteguiz, 2006). The key purpose of the proposed study will be to evaluate the influence of test anxiety on the students’ performance by using two common methods of tests, i.e. the SP and MCQ examinations. The hypotheses for the study include high levels of test anxiety translate to poor or reduced performance in examinations. The main components of anxiety reported in most of the students include emotionality and worry. Another objective of the research will be to assess the relationship between the difference in sex and the test anxiety levels, as compared to the resulting test performance of both female and male students. The hypothesis for this purpose is that the test methods used are less stressful and advantageous to the male students than their female counterparts taking similar tests. The study will also focus on whether high anxiety levels results during and SP test as compared to an MCQ examination, as well as report on the negative effects of the SP test as a result of high anxiety levels. Method The test anxiety levels for the selected participants will be measured by the use of the Test Attitude inventory. The TAAI is a definitive instruments used for assessing anxiety levels in adults and can give a reliable assessment of acute anxiety of up to a coefficient of 0.9. This tool has been used by many researchers for several decades and is available for adoption in forty eight languages. Questionnaires will be in use for data collection during the study. The questionnaires will be the TAI Likert type, with the students responding to questions regarding the intensity of their feelings at a given time, especially during examinations. The data will be obtained by totaling up the scores from the scale consisting of 20 items. The TAI to be used will consist of 2 subscales for assessing worry and emotionality selected as the key components of test anxiety in this study (Powell, 2004). The emotionality subscale will comprise of eight items of the questionnaire which will cover the autonomic nervous response from the stress on focus. The worry subscale will also comprise of eight items, which will cover the cognitive issues on the failure consequences that cause attention interference. The score of each subscale will range from 8 to 32 points, with the other TAI items being used for obtaining the total score. The questionnaires will comprise of excellent psychometric characteristics suitable for students. There will be the formation of three anxiety groups for both the female and male students based on the MCQ and SP questionnaire responses. Analysis of the collected data and scores will be done by using the student’s T test, in order to obtain the overall and subscale levels of anxiety for both the MCQ and SP examinations. The dependent variable, which is the test anxiety level, will be analyzed by one way ANOVA for the test performance and sex difference. The components of the TAI subscales and the three groups of anxiety levels will also be analyzed by analysis of variance, in order to determine their influence on the results of the SP and MCQ examinations. Statistical significance will be determined at p values of less than .05. Data analysis will be done using the SPSS software. Weaknesses of the study There are several weaknesses that might be experienced in the study. Due to the time frame available for the study, the questionnaires will only be filled after the proposed tests because it was felt that filling the questionnaires before the exam might cause the students to experience high anxiety levels, which can translate to significant effects on the test performance. Previous studies had documented accurate anxiety levels obtained from the students when they filled the questionnaires before examinations (Reteguiz, 2006). Other studies, however, have shown no significant effect on the reliability of TAI as a result of the time of testing anxiety apart from the scores of emotionality subscale, which may reduce when done after the examinations. Another weakness may arise from bias of non participation. This can be dealt with by interviewing on a small sample to assess the existence of high levels of anxiety among the students. Another intervention would be to go through the tests scores to evaluate if the findings are identical to those of the participants in the study (Chapell et al, 2004). Discussion and interpretation The tests proposed for the study are usually essential in gaining experience to stressful situations that the students encounter in the real examinations. The students can also benefit from the knowledge of applying the techniques of controlling anxiety. The students who will exhibit high scores in the emotionality subscale may respond to various behavioral treatment forms such as systematic desensitization and practice tests. The students who will report high scores in the worry subscale will be advised on the ways of improving their study skills, in order to record improvements in test performance. These students can also gain the importance of obtaining assistance on retrieval, encoding or organizing information. Studies on test anxiety show conflicting evidence as well as a significant agreement of the association of test anxiety and poor academic performance. Literature also reveals a linear relationship between performance in exams and anxiety. Other studies have also proven that students with low anxiety levels attained high scores in MCQ tests as compared to those students with high anxiety levels. There is evidence that there exists a significant effect of gender in test anxiety with male students reporting lower test anxiety than their female counterparts. This raises various concerns on whether the female students are highly disadvantaged in exam situations or experience more stressful situations than the male students (Reteguiz, 2006). Studies also reveal the component analysis of anxiety such as emotional component comprising of autonomic nervous system response, and failure component resulting from worrying, and sex difference analysis in relation to the effect on test performance (Reteguiz, 2006). Implications of the study The results from the study will useful in identifying the underlying problems apart from emotionality and worry components and anxiety, and establish an effective plan for assisting students reporting high test anxiety levels. However, there may be concerns that the students in the advanced level of education reporting high test anxiety levels have probably mastered the art of taking tests or exams because of their long term experience with similar situations. It would, therefore, be essential to assist the students by incorporating into the school curricula, stress reduction programs. However, other studies have revealed that there is no significant improvement in test scores for students participating in such programs of stress reduction but this should not stop the school system in offering these programs. It has also been noted that medical students who engage in stress reduction programs show high sensitivity and empathy towards their patients, and also exhibit low levels of anxiety (Reteguiz, 2006). The components of failure and worry are in association to retrieval difficulties and poor study habits, and are speculated to be the greatest contributors to decline in performance than to emotional effects. Several studies have also shown that despite male students having lower levels of test anxiety than the female students, beginning from elementary school to tertiary levels, there are minimal effects of the difference in sex in relation to academic performance. These studies claim the existence of non significant effects regardless of the constant anxiety component being worry or emotionality. Most of the students also believe that less anxiety arises from MCQ tests as compared to other forms of tests (Sapp, 1999). Conclusion There are various factors that determine the occurrence of anxiety experienced by many students when taking tests. These factors can range from difficulties in retrieving information during the exam, also known as going blank, or difficulties in organizing, encoding, or keeping information from class information as a result of poor study skills. One of the ways of evaluating the deficits organization, encoding, and information processing is poor performance in tests comprising of multiple choice questions. Those students with difficulties in effective information processing as well as problems in digesting new information record poor performance in evaluative exams, non evaluative pressure situations, take home exams. Therefore, it is of importance to figure out the cause of the problem and establish a strategic plan on the specific deficit that is causing anxiety in the students (Cassady, 2004). Through this study, the students will be in a position to understand effective learning process from the improved awareness on test anxiety because of the association of anxiety subscale components to various deficits. Evaluation of the interventions of stress reduction and test anxiety is thus an inevitable part of preparing students for their future careers (Shapiro, Shapiro & Schwartz, 2000). References Cassady, J.C. (2004). The impact of cognitive test anxiety on text comprehension and recall in the absence of external evaluative pressure. Appl Cognit Psychol,18,311–325. Chapell, M.S., Blanding, B., Silverstein, M.E. (2005). Test anxiety and academic performance in undergraduate and graduate students. J Educ Psychol.97, 268–274. Mannix, L.K., Chandurkar, R.S., Rybicki, L.A., Tusek, D.L., & Solomon, G.D. (1999). Effect of guided imagery on quality of life for patients with chronic tension-type headache. Headache 39, 326 – 334. Powell, D.H. (2004). Behavioral treatment of debilitating test anxiety among medical students. J Clin Psychol. 60,853–865. Reteguiz, J. (2006). Relationship between Anxiety and Standardized Patient Test Performance in the Medicine Clerkship. J Gen Intern Med. 21, 415–418. Sapp, M. (1999). Test Anxiety: Applied Research, Assessment, and Treatment Interventions. (2nd ed.). Maryland: University Press of America. Shapiro, S.L., Shapiro, D.E. & Schwartz, G.E.R. (2000). Stress management in medical education: a review of the literature. Acad Med.75,748–759. Read More