Research suggests that pressure to perform well can reduce performance on exams.

Question

Research suggests that pressure to perform well can reduce performance on exams. Are there effective strategies to deal with pressure? In an experiment, researchers had students take a test on mathematical skills. The same students were asked to take a second test on the same skills, but now each student was paired with a partner and only if both improved their scores would they receive a monetary reward for participating in the experiment. They were also told that their performance would be videotaped and watched by teachers and students. To help them cope with the pressure, ten minutes before the second exam they were asked to write as candidly as possible about their thoughts and feelings regarding the exam. “Students who expressed their thoughts before the high-pressure test showed a significant 5% math accuracy improvement from the pretest to posttest” (). A colleague who knows no statistics says that an increase of 5% isn’t a lot—maybe it’s just an accident due to natural variation among the students. Explain in simple language how “” answers this objection.

A) No possibility to say something.

B) Practical significance is not statistical significance.

C) Statistical significance is not practical significance

Explanation / Answer

OPTION C: C) Statistical significance is not practical significance [ANSWER]

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Basically, you said that it is a [statisically] significant 5% improvement, so you are saying this most probably didn't happen by chance.

Your colleague talks about practical [instead of statistical] significance. For him, 5% improvement is not practically significant; however, he should know that you are talking about statistical significance rather than practical significance.

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