In order for an individual to perform well on an exam, it is essential that he or she is able to remember and understand the material that the exam covers. As a result, it is extremely important for an individual to be able to study effectively in order to understand and retain as much information about a particular topic as possible. However, for an individual to perform well on an exam, he or she not only needs to understand and retain the information, but needs to be able to apply the information to the questions on the exam as well. Unfortunately, this can often be more difficult than it sounds, as most people feel somewhat nervous or anxious during an exam even if they know the information. These feelings are completely normal because even a small, class-specific exam has some effect on the individual's grade or the overall goals of the individual. The problem is that sometimes these feelings of nervousness and anxiousness are actually too much for an individual to handle and these feelings interfere with the individual's ability to take the test. In fact, the term test anxiety usually refers to an excessive feeling of nervousness or anxiousness that an individual experiences while preparing for a large exam or actually taking a large exam.