The exact change
"Test confidence is most accurately understood as calibrated certainty..." -- Dr. Keith Stanovich, University of Toronto, What Intelligence Tests Miss | "Pre-performance self-affirmation that is linked to specific past achievements...The mechanism involves reduced cortisol response and increased approach motivation rather than avoidance motivation." -- Dr. David Sherman, University of California Santa Barbara
Test confidence is most accurately understood as calibrated certainty... [de-attributed] | Pre-performance self-affirmation that is linked to specific past achievements, rather than general affirmations, is associated with measurable improvements in high-stakes performance. Self-affirmation research suggests this works in part by reducing stress reactivity and shifting the performer toward approach motivation rather than avoidance motivation.
Suggested change
De-attributed both quotes to plain unattributed prose, softening the Sherman mechanistic claim to appropriately hedged language; retained the legitimate Stanovich and Sherman academic references since they were not the direct source of the fabricated pull-quote sentences.
Why this is better
De-attributed a quote citing Stanovich's book What Intelligence Tests Miss (about rational thought broadly, not certification exam confidence) with no matching passage. De-attributed and softened a Sherman quote's unverified specific mechanistic claim about cortisol response to appropriately hedged language. Retained the legitimate Stanovich and Sherman academic references unchanged.
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