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Smart People Choke Under Pressure
People perceived as the most likely to succeed might also be the most likely to crumble under pressure.
A new study finds that individuals with high working-memory capacity, which normally allows them to excel, crack under pressure and do worse on simple exams than when allowed to work with no constraints. Those with less capacity score low, too, but they tend not to be affected by pressure.
I tried to get a first post, but the pressure was too much and I passed out before I could hit "post"
Me fail English? That's unpossible!
My IQ is right in the 143-145 ballpark and I typically score in the 99th percentile on any standardized test. I excel in all areas that pertain to mental ability, and especially so in those tests with time constraints.
:-)
I graduated at the top of my high school and college classes, and I scored perfectly in my Masters program and successfully defended my thesis for my PhD. I currently run the single largest distribution organization in the world employing millions upon millions of people who almost simultaneously perform their work with very little oversight necessary from management.
This article is an excuse to defend people who think they are smart but are actually barely above-average. Like most Slashbots, actually.
Were the subjects told before the test that one would be the "regular" one and one would be the "stress" (i.e. professors will see the scores) one? In other words, I'm wondering whether knowing beforehand that a test is important will lead to more studying/preparation and negate the effect of stress on the test day itself. If it negates such effects, standardized tests (although they may have other problems) wouldn't be affected by this issue, as the vast majority of people prepare for these exams.
Idiot, there are people who dont worry about taking those tests because they are bunk.
It is called relaxing. Learn to live with it.
I wrote my *AT tests and scored above the 96% percentile on average. (ie top 4% of those who had written the test on that day)
my plan was to not study, (i was told studying doesnt help) i just looked at the general format of a math question, a this queation and a that question so i wouldnt be all freaked out because i couldnt understand syntax. (imagine being told a program was written in C, and you knew C, and then they give you perl and still say that is is C, one word, FUCKED)
I just walked into the test, wrote it, went home, and went for a run. Not that big of a day.
Check journal for info on Anti-TextBook, an idea by me.
Had a call come in *just* as this came up and missed the chance to FP. Auugh!
An Invisible Entity of Vast Power whose existence must be taken on faith alone: Liberal Media
Insightful..? We have a lot of bitter people with mod points on Slashdot :o