The relative contributions of test anxiety and exam-taking skills to information-processing deficits were investigated in a dual-task paradigm comparing high and low test-anxious students with either good or poor exam-taking skills. Sixty-four undergraduate students (21 males, 43 females) were selected based upon pre-test scores on the Test Anxiety Scale (TAS) and the Exam Behavior Scale (EBS). Students scoring above 20 on the TAS were classified as "high test-anxious" while those with TAS scores below 15 were identified as "low test-anxious." Subjects were further characterized as possessing "good exam-taking skills" if their EBS scores exceeded 20 and "poor exam-taking skills" if their scores were below 19. The Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices and Digit Span tasks were alternately completed either separately or concurrently. Subjects completed the Cognitive Interference Questionnaire and underwent a debriefing interview. Findings suggest that both test anxiety and test-taking abilities independently influence cognitive problem solving in the evaluative setting. Specifically, the possession of good exam-taking skills serves to compensate for anxiety-induced declines in information-processing capacity. Nevertheless, despite such strategies, these processing deficits become apparent with increasing task demands. (Author/PN)