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Chapter 9: Testing, Testing

To-Do's Before a Test

Test taking never fails to cause students a great deal of anxiety. Being prepared is the first line of defense.

On the day of a test, treat it just as you would any other day. Part of test anxiety is working yourself into a crazy state. Take the test seriously, but use that extra energy it takes to get upset to study harder before the test.
Get plenty of rest. It is important to walk into your test having had a good night's sleep. This will allow you to concentrate better and recall information more easily.
Avoid stimulants like caffeine. It will make you antsy and less able to concentrate. Have orange juice instead.
Eat breakfast. It is a fact that eating a well-rounded breakfast helps you get off to a better start. Your brain uses a lot of glucose (sugar) for energy, so if you would like it to work properly, you have to feed it properly.

Mnemonic Devices

A proven way to remember items on a list is to use a mnemonic device-a clever way to trick your mind into remembering things. For instance, if you were trying to remember the Great Lakes, you might use the HOMES-H standing for Huron, O for Ontario, M for Michigan, E for Erie, and S for Superior.

Popular Mnemonics
You've heard of Popular Mechanics, so why not Popular Mnemonics? Here are some of our favorites:

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. For remembering the order of calculations in algebra (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction).
My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. The order of the planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto).
Kings Play Catch Over Farmer Gray's Shed. For remembering the proper order of the biological grouping in taxonomy (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species).
Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived. For remembering the fates of Henry VIII's six wives.
Good Boys Do Fine, Always. The notes represented by the lines on the bass clef stave (bottom to top: G, B, D, F, A).
Rhythm Helps Your Two Hips Move. To remember the tricky spelling of the word "rhythm."
Roy G. Biv. Helps us remember the colors of the rainbow spectrum (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet).
People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms. This stands for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA)-the credit-card sized slot found on portable computers for cards such as modems and network interface devices.
Mike Nesmith Ended Monkees Over Nebulous Internal Complications. Davy, Evidently Victorious, Insisted Company Equally Share. A little tongue-in- cheek method of remembering how to spell "mnemonic devices."

For more resources on mnemonic devices, head over to the Web Links for this chapter of the Online Companion.

Conquering Multiple Choice Tests

Is there a way to "outthink" those multiple choice and true-or-false tests? Apply these approaches to the quizzes in this Online Companion and see if they improve your score.

Proceed in chronological order, starting with the first question. Don't jump around-you'll only confuse yourself and waste time later when you try to figure out what you've skipped. Mark any questions that stop you in your tracks, and return to those later.
Keep an ear out for the grammar of the question (assuming you have a good ear for grammar). If you detect grammatical inconsistencies between the question stem and the answer choice-like lack of subject-verb agreement, for instance-you can assume that such an answer is incorrect.
The general rule of thumb is that your first answer is usually the correct one. Your brain is telling you to go in that direction and you should listen. Not that your brain is infallible, but the odds are definitely with you.
If you're having trouble with a question, ask yourself if the answer you're leaning toward completely addresses the question. If the answer is only partially true, or true only part of the time, then it's probably not correct.
Most instructors don't include "trick questions" on tests. The "trick" in this case might be the one that your brain is playing on you. Maybe you're thinking too hard.
Be suspicious of answers that contain negative or absolute words, like always or never. Try substituting a word like seldom or sometimes for always or never. If seldom or sometimes work, then you know that always or never cannot be correct.
"All of the above" is often the right answer. If several of your answers work, it's very likely that "all of the above" deserves to be your pick.
Always guess when there is no penalty to do so. (You can establish whether or not there is a penalty by asking the instructor or proctor before the test begins.)

When Failure Strikes

Most of us can look back to moments in our lives when we failed at something. Our stomachs dropped, our hearts leapt into our throats, our palms got sweaty. Our response may well have been to flee to some secluded place where no one could witness our shame.

As perfectly normal as it is to react in this way to failure, it's also very important to understand that everyone fails at something at some time or another. People lose at elections and beauty pageants and at the Academy Awards. They get fired. Their romantic partners jilt them. They strike out and their team loses because of it. They don't live up to the expectations of others. Failure, as we said earlier in this book, is very much a normal part of life.

The way a person reacts to failure, however, can be abnormal or unhealthy. The storm winds of shame that often swirl around failure do not have to be accepted as a natural and inevitable part of the process. You can fail at something without believing that you are a failure. Being able to make that distinction is a vital step in your personal growth.

When you've fallen short of the mark, and your palms start to sweat, we'd like you to try to keep the following thoughts in mind. They are comforting and constructive and remembering them in troubled times will do you a world of good.

Experience your shame and then shed it. Shame-that feeling of being inadequate, unworthy, or somehow "bad"-is something that almost all people experience at some point or another. It can accumulate over time until it plays out as a major theme in your life. Experience your shame, look it straight in the eye, but be bigger than it.
Failure doesn't always require blame. Failure often occurs without blame playing any role whatsoever. A person may simply lack the aptitude to succeed in calculus, for instance. That is not the fault of that individual. That individual is not to blame. He may feel sorry or sad that he doesn't possess the innate skills to succeed in this subject, but he can redirect his efforts and energies to succeed in something else. There are so many different ways to be valuable and to succeed in this world.
Recognize that failure is just one stop on a local train. When you're in a panic about failure, you tend to think of it as "the end of the line." It almost never is. Frank Sinatra and John Travolta are just two of the mega-stars who were said to be "washed-up" before they made their incredible comebacks. It is important to see failure as a discrete event, not as a syndrome or part of a pattern. The next stop on the train could be Adaptation, then Adjustment, then Recovery, and then Triumph. You just never know.
You can't fail if you don't try. Let's imagine that you're taking a science or math course without having had much of a background in those subjects. That's a real reach for you, and it's good to reach. But sometimes, when we reach, we fall. It's nothing to be ashamed. Pick yourself up and move on.
The secret is in the post-game analysis. You examine all the facets of what went on-what you thought you were doing right and what you might have been doing wrong-and with the input of those you trust, it's very likely that you can come away from the experience with a real perspective on what happened. That's called growth, and there's no substitute for it.

The first time you fail-that first time you're fired or get an "F" or have somebody break off a relationship with you-can feel very raw and painful. The next time something like that happens, it may be less raw, less painful. If you understand that failure isn't the end of the world, but merely the end result of a specific action, you can move on, toughen your hide, and be less afraid of failure. And being less afraid of failure will very likely increase your chances for success.

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