Progressive relaxation as a modifier of self-reported test anxiety and cognitive visual perception in undergraduates was tested on 23 volunteers found susceptible to progressive relaxation as indicated by selected items from the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility. Subjects were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. Pretreatment consisted of the Test Anxiety Inventory and the Hidden Figures Test. Posttreatment measures were the Test Anxiety Inventory and the Witkin's Group Embedded Figures Test. A mixed analysis of covariance for repeated measures with two levels of treatment (between subjects) and two levels of time (within subjects) showed a significant reduction in reported test-anxiety test-retest for all subjects but no significant effect on the Embedded Figures Test scores.
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