Those who are blessed with brains and what scientists call a high working-memory capacity are expected to do well on tests, but a study from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and Michigan State University in East Lansing  finds that these same people often crack under pressure and do much worse on simple exams than when they are allowed to work with no constraints, report LiveScience and HealthDayNews.
 
Why? It's internal pressure--that feeling of, "I can't mess up!" These thoughts reside in the same area of the brain as the high working-memory and they actually compete for the same space, limiting the person's ability to do the task at hand. "When they begin to worry, then they're in trouble," Sian Beilock, assistant professor of psychology at Miami and co-researcher along with Thomas Carr of Michigan State, told LiveScience. "People with lower working-memory capacities are not using that capacity to begin with, so they're not affected by pressure."

Also called short-term memory, working memory allows us to hold information in our brain that is relevant to performance and ensures that we focus on the task at hand. It is because of working memory that we can remember and retrieve information for a long task, such as long division. "In these math problems students have to perform subtraction and division, and if you're trying to hold information in your memory and you start worrying about performance, then you can't use your entire mental capacity to do the math," Beilock told LiveScience.

In this study, 93 Michigan State students were divided into two groups based on their working memory capacity. Both groups were given the same test, a 24-problem math exam, in a low-pressure environment. The students with high working memory substantially outperformed those with low working memory. But when the pressure was put on--students were told not only that they were part of a team and an improved score would earn a cash reward, but also that their performance was being judged by math professors--the group with the high working memory choked. Their score dropped to that of the group with the low working memory, whose performance was not affected by the increased pressure.

Working memory is a critical component to getting a high score on important standardized tests, such as the SAT, GRE, LSAT, and MCAT. And this is why being a genius does not guarantee a perfect score on the SAT.

Take heart, brainiacs. All is not lost. Jeremy Gray, an assistant professor of psychology at Yale University, told HealthDayNews that smart people can regain their natural advantage by rehearsing the test in an equally pressure-filled environment. "You can really do a lot through practice and training to improve," he said.

The research findings were published in the journal Psychological Science.
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Test taking skills, hints, strategies, & techniques.
Studying is only a part of getting good results on your exam. No matter how hard you study as a student if you don't know how to go about taking a test, whether multiple choice or essay, you won't score the highest possible mark.

General Pretest Tips
Budget your time, make sure you have sufficient time to study so that you are well prepared for the test.
Go to review, pay attention to hints that the instructor may give about the test. Take careful notes and ask questions about items you may be confused about.

Ask the instructor to specify the areas that will be emphasized on the test.

Make sure you go to the class right before the test; it's another prime time for the instructor to give out more hints or the format of the test.

Go over any material from old tests, HW's, sample problems, review material, the textbook, class notes... that might be on the test.

Eat before a test, having food in your stomach will give you energy and help you focus, but avoid heavy foods which can make you groggy.

Don't try to pull an all nighter, get at least 3 hours of sleep before the test.

Put the main ideas/information/formulas onto a sheet that can be quickly reviewed many times, this makes it easier to retain the key concepts that will be on the test.

Try to show up at least 5 minutes before the test will start.

Set your alarm and have a backup alarm set as well.

Go to the bathroom before walking into the exam room, you don't want to waste anytime worrying about your bodily needs during the test.

At the test:
Bring at least two pens/pencils with good erasers, calculator with enough batteries and any other resources that your instructor allows you to.

Bring a watch to the test with you so that you can better pace yourself.

Keep a positive attitude throughout the whole test and try to stay relaxed, if you start to feel nervous take a few deep breaths to relax.

Keep your eyes on your own paper, you don't want to appear to be cheating and cause unnecessary trouble for yourself.

When you first receive your test, do a quick survey of the entire test so that you know how to efficiently budget your time.

Do the easiest problems first; don't stay on a problem that you are stuck on especially when time is a factor.

Do the problems that have the greatest point values first.

Don't rush but pace yourself, read the entire question and look for keywords.

Ask the instructor for clarification if you don't understand what they are asking for on the test.

Write legibly, if the grader can't read what you wrote they'll most likely mark it wrong.

Always read the whole question carefully, don't make assumptions about what the question might be.

If you don't know an answer skip it, go on with the rest of the test and come back to it later, maybe on another part of the test there'll be something that will help you out with that question.

Don't worry if others finish before you; focus on the test in front of you.

When you are finished, if you have time left look over your test, make sure that you have answered all the questions, only change an answer if you misread or misinterpreted the question because the first answer that you put is usually the correct one. Watch out for careless mistakes and proofread your essay and/or short answer questions.

Double check to make sure that you put your first and last name on the test.
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Multiple Choice Test Tips-Help
Tips on answering multiple choice questions

Read the question before you look at the answer.

Come up with the answer in your head before looking at the possible answers, this way the choices given on the test won't throw you off or trick you.

Eliminate answers you know aren't right.

Read all the choices before choosing your answer.

If there is no guessing penalty, always take an educated guess and select an answer.

Don't keep on changing your answer, usually your first choice is the right one, unless you miss-read the question.

In "All of the above" and "None of the above" choices, if you are certain one of the statements is true don't choose "None of the above" or one of the statements are false don't choose "All of the above".

In a question with an "All of the above" choice, if you see that at least two correct statements, then "All of the above" is probably the answer.

A positive choice is more likely to be true than a negative one.

If there is an "All of the above" option and you know that at least two of the choices are correct select the "All of the above" choice

Usually the correct answer is the choice with the most information.
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True-False Test Tips-Help
Usually there are more true answers than false on most tests.

If there is no guessing penalty, guess, you have a 50% chance of getting the right answer.

Qualifiers like "never, always, and every mean that the statement must be true all of the time. Usually these type of qualifiers lead to a false answer.

Qualifiers like "usually, sometimes, and generally" mean that if the statement can be considered true or false depending on the circumstances. Usually these type of qualifiers lead to an answer of true.

If any part of the question is false, then the entire statement is false, but just because part of a statement is true doesn't necessarily make the entire statement true.