Here are some thoughts about avoiding panic on physics tests. . . Here are some thoughts about avoiding panic on physics tests. . . Panic is a natural, maybe an expected response to your being placed in a situation, perhaps an unfamiliar situation, where you have lost control, and you may be running out of time. The feeling is like one you have probably experienced in a bad dream, where you can't seem to get where you need to go for some unexplained reason.
Tests are definitely artificial situations.
You are usually surrounded by other people who can help out, or at least give you support or be good listeners. On an exam, when you realize you don't know how to do something, that you've a lack of time, that you've gotten some obviously incorrect results, you are likely to be thrown into real panic, with reactions that are as biologically built-in as those experienced by, say, an antelope cornered by a lion. Knowing that you're a mere mortal, what you can do is to try to get as comfortable as you can with as much of the material as you can. If you learn where you're likely to make mistakes, you'll know where to downshift into low gear and proceed cautiously. On the other hand, if there are things you can train yourself to do rapidly, you'll be able to gain precious minutes on a test.