Are You Like This?

[JackD]

Every time i have a psychology test coming up, no matter how much i study, no matter how well i grasp the subject, no matter that i have received all but one A on every psychology test, i still have no confidence that i will do well. I just pound away for hours making sure i know each concept in and out, even if doing much less would probably get me an A. Is/Was anyone else that neurotic about their grades?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[EquestriAnn]

Uhhhh....no. I mean I studied and made sure I did well, but not to the point where I was anxious out about not doing well even when I knew the material.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

B = Ph.D. / Psy.D.

 

[deleted176373]

Every time i have a psychology test coming up, no matter how much i study, no matter how well i grasp the subject, no matter that i have received all but one A on every psychology test, i still have no confidence that i will do well. I just pound away for hours making sure i know each concept in and out, even if doing much less would probably get me an A. Is/Was anyone else that neurotic about their grades?

Have you thought about leading/participating in study groups? You quickly find that if you can teach others that your apprehension goes down. If you have mastered the topic to that level you will ace the test. Plus that mindset won't help in grad school.

Mark

 

[deleted176373]

B = Ph.D. / Psy.D.

Ya, but he's still an undergrad and a 3.0 does not equal getting in!

Mark

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Ya, but he's still an undergrad and a 3.0 does not equal getting in!

Mark

Yeah...don't get B's until you get in, then you have other stuff to worry about.

 

[Boston2k]

It seems like intolerance of uncertainty, which you see with anxiety sometimes. The thing is, you can't guarantee that you will get a 100. You can be pretty sure that you will get a 95 if you do the requisite work, and spend time when you finish the test correcting errors. Part of it is training yourself to be OK with a little uncertainty and having satisfaction with the fact that while you are imperfect and will not always get a 100, you can do excellent work consistently and score very highly, just not necessarily the number 100.

 

[psychwanabe]

B = Ph.D. / Psy.D.

I am learning to embrace this mantra.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Couldn't accept a B in undergrad, didn't get any after my freshman year.

But, that said, I went into every exam in undergrad and grad school, thinking I would ace it. . . left most thinking I aced it (wasn't always true).

So you were one of *those* people...... I didn't much care about grades in college, as I was there for the experience and took classes well outside of my comfort zone. With that being said, I still knew I had to do very well (for grad school)...so I was honor roll/deans list most of the time.

 

[JockNerd]

I wasn't like that in classes, really. In my second year I realized that my half-assed jobs were still better than most people's performances using their whole asses, and learned to scale effort. I made sure I learned everything, but didn't try super-hard on tests or papers.

On the GRE, in contrast, once I learned that you're marked not on how you did but on how did you in relation to everyone else, I decided less than 99th was unacceptable and WAY overstudied

I'd go see a learning specialist at your university about test anxiety and study strategy, JackD. If nothing else it'll make you more productive and efficient.

 

[psychdude5469]

I'm pretty neurotic when it comes to studying for tests. I think it is beneficial because it leads me to study hard for tests. I think this is one reason that I have a 4.0. I think that it can be detrimental due to the stress and the anxiety that it produces. Once all my applications for grad school were in I knew that I didn't need to get A's on all my tests, so I thought my test neuroticism would decrease. But it hasn't. It's sort of a pride thing for me to finish my undergrad with a 4.0 (although I think being prideful is a corrisive thread and I need to rid myself of it). I figure, why slack off now? That being said, I'm transitioning from wanting to know the material to do well on the test to wanting to know the material as an endpoint in itself.

 

[JackD]

you can't guarantee that you will get a 100

Oh i don't care about getting 100's. I'm not sure if i have ever got a 100% on a psychology test. I am just trying to maintain A's. I am nearly done with all of my undergrad psychology courses and i am so close to getting a 4.0 in psychology.

I guess i am just waiting for that one test where i will start reading the questions and think "i've never heard of any of this." It actually did happen once in my adjustment psychology class but somehow i pulled off like 98%. I'm still not too sure how that happened. Still i am just waiting for the one test where i get like a 55%.

I guess when you have lofty goals, a little performance anxiety is guaranteed.

 

[socialcog]

Dude....you're fine! At this point your anxiety is paying off in terms of performance. Yerkes Dodson, holmie! No violins here...only congrats!

 

[cara susanna]

Yeah, I'm definitely that way. Though I've lost my "grades mojo" like I tend to do at the beginning of the semester and am getting B's, so I'll just have to step it up!

 

[EquestriAnn]

Yeah, I'm definitely that way. Though I've lost my "grades mojo" like I tend to do at the beginning of the semester and am getting B's, so I'll just have to step it up!

Just be glad you can do that! 10 week quarters pretty much suck with a midterm and a final making up your entire grade in most classes. I envy my friends on semesters who have like 5 tests and a final worth 30% or something....more time to mess up

 

[Ilovecows]

I got a B+ in one my courses, and almost had a nervous breakdown. I'm used to getting A-s, As, and A+s. It kills me, I stress constantly..it can't be good, but yeah I'm just like that.

 

[myelin]

I think that at a certain point, perfection in school can hinder other aspects of your life. I seem to recall a study done that found graduate students who made As and occasional Bs were psychologically healthier than those who made all As.

I've seen many examples of this in my program, where the ones that MUST make As on everything were in for a wild ride in statistics and IQ class. It made them miserable. You're supposed to make mistakes in graduate school! It facilitates the learning process (e.g. you make a mistake on a WAIS protocol and you learn from it because you ultimately fail that protocol).

Interestingly, I also think there are some students who make great students but would make sub-standard clinicians. In therapy, you won't always be able to heal every client. I have a feeling that using a perfectionistic way of thinking in practice wouldn't be healthy.

During my frist semester in grad school, I tried to keep up with the perfectionists. It was coming down to who made the 98 and who made the 93. We were splitting hairs and it made the person with the lower grade feel like junk. I got tired of it and took the advice of a graduate mentor I had during undergrad - "put your blinders on." Like a horse, use the blinders to look forward and don't worry about what the other students are doing. Worry about yourself or you'll drive yourself crazy. As a result of the "blinders," I still make all As, but I am much more psychologically healthy. Still, some of the other students are caught up in the 98 vs. 93 battle and have a face full of acne to show for it. Who cares if we're all making As anyhow.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

For me it is about diminishing returns.....how much more effort is needed to go from a 93-->98, and is that effort better spent elsewhere? I took some B's in grad school because I had more important things to work on than get those last 3 points to go from an 87-->90.

 

[Ollie123]

I think that at a certain point, perfection in school can hinder other aspects of your life. I seem to recall a study done that found graduate students who made As and occasional Bs were psychologically healthier than those who made all As.
.

I'll actually push it one step further and say perfection in classes will hinder your ability in SCHOOL.

Its actually seen as a bad thing to have a 4.0 here, let alone comparing a 98 vs. a 95. In most cases it means you are trying at the wrong activities. Classes are NOT where someone should be doing most of their learning in grad school, they're meant to provide the background necessary for you to learn on your own while working on various useful activities. Obviously some effort needs to be put in, but a grad student with a 3.5 and 10 strong publications is a MUCH better student than one with a 4.0 and just a few pubs to their name (at least at the research schools).

 

[JackD]

Speaking of tests, i had one today in my brain behavior class and there was a question that was a bit confusing. I'm not going to go into what the question was but has anyone ever heard of the behaviorists' black box concept of the mind called the "black tunnel". I know they referred to it as a black box but what about a black tunnel?

 

[baylordude]

wow, this thread reeks of OCD ...

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Speaking of tests, i had one today in my brain behavior class and there was a question that was a bit confusing. I'm not going to go into what the question was but has anyone ever heard of the behaviorists' black box concept of the mind called the "black tunnel". I know they referred to it as a black box but what about a black tunnel?

"black tunnel' made me think of some weird "re-birthing" exercise I read about once.....simulating coming out of a dark enclosure/place, and coming into life.

 

[myelin]

we read about something similar last semester in my interviewing and interventions class. i recall something about yoko ono and california. it was called primal scream therapy, where, from what i understand, the individual screams into an object such as a pillow which represents the pain of being born.

 

[psychometric]

wow, this thread reeks of OCD ...

That 's most of the training one gets in school. They reinforce the anxiety /OCD , to make sure you know what's needed (guess OCD, lol) to make it into grad school

 

[cowboyvirus]

Don't freak out, man. It's only your entire future on the line.