Stress Reappraisal Quiz

Via "Can Test Anxiety Interventions Alleviate a Gender Gap in an Undergraduate STEM Course?" (see supplemental materials)

Quiz Instructions: Please do careful work on this exercise--you will get full credit (3 points) for a good-faith effort.

There are many situations (e.g. a music recital, athletic contest, course exam, or job interview) for which people experience a physiological stress response. This stress response is required for heightened alertness and responsiveness. Humans can respond with a peak performance in stressful situations because they are in a state of physiological arousal, which puts our bodies in an alert state, ready for action. When our bodies experience a stress response, our minds also produce an emotional response. In this way, the body and mind work together. But the emotional response we have depends in large part on the way we choose to interpret stress and arousal. If we interpret the physiological arousal state as negative, then we experience negative emotions like fear and threat. But if we choose to interpret physiological arousal as positive, then we experience positive emotions like excitement and anticipation. People who respond really well to stressful situations are those who choose to interpret their body’s physiological arousal in a positive manner—they get excited about their body being ready for peak performance during a test, game, or presentation.

Explain why the following three statements are true. In each case, your explanation should be 1-2 sentences.