Effects of trait test anxiety and state anxiety on children's working memory task performance

• We examined effects of test anxiety and working memory on arithmetic performance.
• Trait test anxiety has a direct and detrimental effect on arithmetic performance.
• Anxiety-related deficits in efficiency are independent of working memory demands.
• Anxiety-related deficits in effectiveness occur only at high working memory load.

This study examined the effects of (a) trait test anxiety versus state anxiety and (b) working memory load on children's mental arithmetic task performance. Participants (N = 128; 11-year-olds) completed a mental arithmetic task at varying levels of working memory load under high and low situational stress conditions. Measures of task accuracy and accuracy/response time served as indicators of performance effectiveness and processing efficiency. The findings showed that trait test anxiety has a direct and detrimental effect on working memory. The effect was not mediated by state test anxiety. We also demonstrated that the adverse effects of trait test anxiety on efficiency are independent of working memory load. However, anxiety-related deficits in effectiveness occur at higher levels of working memory load. Findings are interpreted as being largely consistent with the attentional control theory.