Suchit Bhayani, Ryan Cao, Surya Setty, and Jonathan Yepez

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The term "test anxiety" focuses on the tradeoffs between stress and anxiety on their test scores. Each student may find that their performance improves, or gets worse from the tradeoff between stress and anxiety. This relationship describes Yerkes-Dodson Law, where performance increases with stress up to a point, or sweet spot, after which it decreases just as suddenly.

By analyzing these stress indicators during actual test-taking scenarios, we look into how stress patterns change during exams, find correlations between stress levels and test performance, and find the sweet spot for optimal performance.

Our key physiological indicators:

ElectroDermal Activity (EDA)

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Indicates emotional arousal and stress level through skin conductance.

Heart Rate

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Heartbeats per minute, increasing during periods of stress.

Skin Surface Temperature

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Tracks the body temperature in Celsius of test takers, increasing with activity levels.

Explore the visualizations below!

Student Heart Rate During Exams

Let's start by following two students' heart rate during the second midterm. These charts look similar, but one student fell victim to stress.

You can see Marina experienced stress through the flucutations in her heart rate during the beginning and end of the exam. However, Marina scored 90% for her exam.

Commonly, people have a negative perception of stress. It is only natural as stress is a scary feeling different from a human's normal state. Did Lily fall victim to stress? Her midterm 2 score was 64%!

Scroll down to see how all students' heart rates change during the exam!

Midterm 2: Heart Rate Visualizations

Observe how each student's heart rate fluctuates during the final exam.

Scroll down to play the comparison game!

Compare Student Stress Patterns

We assume lower stress results in better test scores. Is this always true?
Pick the highest scoring student based on their EDA.

Hint: When you make your guess, try to find patterns in how brain activity changes.

Scroll down to interpret the results!

Understanding the Results

You might have noticed that students with higher stress levels sometimes performed better than those with lower stress.
This isn't a coincidence - it's explained by the Yerkes-Dodson Law, showing the relationship between stress and performance below.

Try to fit the circle into the sweet spot!

Notice how the curve shows that performance isn't just about having less stress. Think about Marina and Lily's different experiences - where might they fall on this curve?

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How does brain activity reflect stress?

Now that we know about the Yerkes-Dodson model, let's visualize
the stress levels (measured in EDA) among
different student stress types!

Click below to run the animation.

Scroll down to input your results!

Predict Your Performance

Input your stress indicators to see how they might affect your test performance

Body Temperature (°C)

36.5

Heart Rate (bpm)

80

EDA (µS)

5.0

F D C B A

--

Your Predicted Score

Overall Score --

--

Final Thoughts

Looking at Marina's success and Lily's struggle, we can see that stress isn't always the enemy. The key is finding your own "sweet spot" - that perfect balance where you're energized but not overwhelmed, focused but not anxious.

Suchit Bhayani, Ryan Cao, Surya Setty, and Jonathan Yepez

Scroll down to begin

Student Heart Rate During Exams

Let's start by following two students' heart rate during the second midterm. These charts look similar, but one student fell victim to stress.

You can see Marina experienced stress through the flucutations in her heart rate during the beginning and end of the exam. However, Marina scored 90% for her exam.

Commonly, people have a negative perception of stress. It is only natural as stress is a scary feeling different from a human's normal state. Did Lily fall victim to stress? Her midterm 2 score was 64%!

Scroll down to see how all students' heart rates change during the exam!

Midterm 2: Heart Rate Visualizations

Scroll down to play the comparison game!

Compare Student Stress Patterns

We assume lower stress results in better test scores. Is this always true?
Pick the highest scoring student based on their EDA.

Hint: When you make your guess, try to find patterns in how brain activity changes.

Scroll down to interpret the results!

Understanding the Results

You might have noticed that students with higher stress levels sometimes performed better than those with lower stress.
This isn't a coincidence - it's explained by the Yerkes-Dodson Law, showing the relationship between stress and performance below.

Try to fit the circle into the sweet spot!

Notice how the curve shows that performance isn't just about having less stress. Think about Marina and Lily's different experiences - where might they fall on this curve?

Scroll down

How does brain activity reflect stress?

Now that we know about the Yerkes-Dodson model, let's visualize
the stress levels (measured in EDA) among
different student stress types!

Low Stress Student

Medium Stress Student

High Stress Student

Scroll down to input your results!

Predict Your Performance

Input your stress indicators to see how they might affect your test performance

Your Predicted Score

Final Thoughts

Looking at Marina's success and Lily's struggle, we can see that stress isn't always the enemy. The key is finding your own "sweet spot" - that perfect balance where you're energized but not overwhelmed, focused but not anxious.

As you prepare for your next exam, remember: a little stress might just be what you need to perform at your best.

Scroll down to see our video presentation!

Suchit Bhayani, Ryan Cao, Surya Setty, and Jonathan Yepez

Scroll down to begin

Student Heart Rate During Exams

Let's start by following two students' heart rate during the second midterm. These charts look similar, but one student fell victim to stress.

You can see Marina experienced stress through the flucutations in her heart rate during the beginning and end of the exam. However, Marina scored 90% for her exam.

Commonly, people have a negative perception of stress. It is only natural as stress is a scary feeling different from a human's normal state. Did Lily fall victim to stress? Her midterm 2 score was 64%!

Scroll down to see how all students' heart rates change during the exam!

Midterm 2: Heart Rate Visualizations

Scroll down to play the comparison game!

Compare Student Stress Patterns

We assume lower stress results in better test scores. Is this always true? Pick the highest scoring student based on their EDA.

Hint: When you make your guess, try to find patterns in how brain activity changes.

Scroll down to interpret the results!

Understanding the Results

You might have noticed that students with higher stress levels sometimes performed better than those with lower stress. This isn't a coincidence - it's explained by the Yerkes-Dodson Law, showing the relationship between stress and performance below.

Try to fit the circle into the sweet spot!

Notice how the curve shows that performance isn't just about having less stress. Think about Marina and Lily's different experiences - where might they fall on this curve?

Scroll down

How does brain activity reflect stress?

Now that we know about the Yerkes-Dodson model, let's visualize the stress levels (measured in EDA) among different student stress types!

Low Stress Student

Medium Stress Student

High Stress Student

Scroll down to input your results!

Predict Your Performance

Input your stress indicators to see how they might affect your test performance

Your Predicted Score

Final Thoughts

Looking at Marina's success and Lily's struggle, we can see that stress isn't always the enemy. The key is finding your own "sweet spot" - that perfect balance where you're energized but not overwhelmed, focused but not anxious.

As you prepare for your next exam, remember: a little stress might just be what you need to perform at your best.

Scroll down to see our video presentation!

We assume lower stress results in better test scores. Is this always true?
Pick the highest scoring student based on their EDA.

You might have noticed that students with higher stress levels sometimes performed better than those with lower stress.
This isn't a coincidence - it's explained by the Yerkes-Dodson Law, showing the relationship between stress and performance below.

Now that we know about the Yerkes-Dodson model, let's visualize
the stress levels (measured in EDA) among
different student stress types!