Cognition, anxiety, and prediction of performance in 1st-year law students

Two models to predict academic performance using ability, affective, and cognitive variables were evaluated using students in their 1st year of law school. Participants were assessed before the beginning of classes and prior to and immediately following 2 anxiety-arousing 1st-year academic milestones: a final exam and an oral argument. In the path analysis for the exam model, only the Law School Aptitude Test was predictive of performance. Trait anxiety predicted self-efficacy for cognitive control, which predicted thoughts, which in turn predicted state anxiety. State anxiety, however, did not predict exam grades. In the oral argument model, a clear path of significant predictors could be traced from communication apprehension to self-efficacy for affective control, to state anxiety, and finally to oral argument score. Thus, different processes appear to operate in each of the 2 academic tasks. The implications of the results for law school education and future research are discussed.