Dead Grandmother/Exam Syndrome

There was a discussion the other day where I mentioned a student that a colleague and I had many years ago. The colleague once said, "I just feel terrible for his mother; every time I give a test she has a heart attack."

So apparently this problem is more widespread than I first thought; someone on Slashdot kindly linked to an article by Mike Adams of the Eastern Connecticut State University Biology Department, on the subject of "The Dead Grandmother/Exam Syndrome and the Potential Downfall of American Society" (Connecticut Review, 1990). A truly stellar piece of work; highly recommended.