Deep Breathing
Deep Breathing Intervention for Test Anxiety
Taking deep breaths before a test:
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Reduces test anxiety
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Improves attentional control / focus in primary school aged students
Brain activity observed during deep breathing relate to:
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Enhanced performance in attentional focus and in (timed math fluency) test performance
Know that it is possible to collect neuroimaging data from students in schools using mobile electroencephalography* (EEG) devices
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What does this mean for me?
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Collect EEG data that is ecologically-valid, in situ, large-scale and school-based!
Previously, collecting data like EEG from students had its difficulties. Unlike the low cost, lightweight, wireless, mobile EEG headsets used in this project, conventional EEG systems tended to be very expensive, cumbersome to set up and uncomfortable for students.
One could hence infer that before the emergence of these low cost EEG headsets, measuring electrical brain activities of students in a classroom setting was not likely to be possible.
Therefore, these low cost EEG headsets bring about new possibilities to:
Image 1: What is Electroencephalography (EEG)? (view larger image )
Test anxiety is a non-trivial and prevalent problem for school-going children around the world, especially in societies with high-stakes examinations. According to a study by von der Embse, Barterian, & Segool, 2013, 10-40% of students, some as young as age 7, suffer from test anxiety.
Infographic 1: Benefits of CoVAA (view larger image)
The Detriments of Test Anxiety
Potentially detrimental to children’s psychological well-being and performance, test anxiety can limit children’s test performance and hinder future educational and career progression. Unfortunately, test anxiety is also associated with negative outcomes ranging from low achievement, depression, and suicide ideation.
Hence early intervention in schools to equip students with emotional management skills, can mitigate such adverse effects of test anxiety (Khng and Mane, 2020). One such intervention, could be the introduction of deep breathing as a technique to help students with test anxiety.
How was the Research Carried Out?
The research consisted of a pilot study and a main study. In the pilot study involving P5 students, EEG data was collected to compare the quality and pattern of EEG data between a consumer-grade EEG device and a clinical-grade EEG device.
In the main study involving both P5 and S1 students, a comparison between a deep breathing intervention group and a control group of students was made to measure pre-to-post-test changes in:
Self-reported feelings of anxiety
Timed Math fluency test performance
Self-reported state-of-mind
Behavioural and EEG measures of attentional focus under evaluative stress instructions
Taking deep breaths before a test is a simple intervention that can reduce test anxiety in primary school aged students and improve attentional control/focus
Deep breathing has effects reflected in brain activity, which is related to enhanced performance in attentional focus and (timed Math fluency) test performance
This study breaks new ground in the local educational neuroscience landscape by bringing neuroimaging into schools and demonstrating the feasibility of collecting electroencephalography (EEG) data from students in schools
Teachers can teach students deep breathing to self-regulate their emotions.
◦This in turn helps students cope with their test anxiety, allowing for better attentional focus, which is related to better performance.
Schools can consider incorporating deep breathing as part of students’ learning experience.
Classroom resources
Phase of education
Primary and Secondary School
Academic subject
Character and Citizenship Education
Research Participants
83 Primary 5 and 37 Secondary 1 Students
Topics
Character & Citizenship Education, Neuroscience, Science of Learning
- Research Brief Series, No. 19-024, “Effects and Mechanisms of a Deep Breathing Intervention for Test Anxiety” [PDF]
For educators interested in the research methodology behind Investigating CCAs, you may refer to:
Kiat Hui Khng (2017), A better state-of-mind: deep breathing reduces state anxiety and enhances test performance through regulating test cognitions in children, Cognition and Emotion, 31:7, 1502-1510, DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2016.1233095 [PDF]
Kiat Hui Khng & Ravikiran Mane (2018), Powering up attentional focus, validating a school-based deep breathing intervention with mobile EEG – a pilot exploration, 2018 International Conference on Cyberworlds [PDF]
Kiat Hui Khng & Ravikiran Mane (2020), Beyond BCI – Validating a wireless, consumer-grade EEG headset against a medical-grade system for evaluating EEG effects of a test anxiety intervention in school, Advanced Engineering Informatives, Vol.45, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aei.2020.101106 [PDF]
- Dr Khng Kiat Hui, Office of Education Research (OER), NIE
Principal Investigator
- Prof Kerry Lee, formerly of NIE
Co-Principal Investigators
- Dr Ang Kai Keng, Institute for Infocomm Research, A*Star>
Collaborator
Research led by
To learn more, email: kiathui.khng@nie.edu.sg
