Do Cheat Sheets Reduce Testing Anxiety?
Review of Authorized Crib Cards Do Not Improve Exam Performance by Laurie K. Dickson and Michelle D. Miller (2005), published in Teaching of Psychology, 32(4), 230-233. While most exams are not “open book,” instructors sometimes allow students to use “Crib Cards” – notes limited to a single note card or sheet of paper. Such cards are assumed to alleviate test-taking anxiety and allow students to focus less on rote memorization, and more on answering more conceptually-oriented questions that assess higher order cognitive skills. Drawing on a sample size of 54 undergraduate students in two sections of an upper division psychology class, Dickson and Miller administered four multiple choice exams that contained both lower and higher order cognitive skills. On the first day of class, students filled out questionnaires that assessed initial perceptions of crib cards: how likely crib cards would be used; how likely they would improve grades on exams; how they would affect anxiety levels durin
