Using an index of answer copying developed by Houston, it was found that rearranged questions alone did not reduce answer copying, whereas rearrangement of both questions and answers effectively eliminated detectable cheating. (Author)

Item-response changing as a function of test anxiety was investigated. Data supported the hypothesis that high test-anxious students make more item-response changes than low test-anxious students. Also, both high- and low-anxious students profit to a similar extent proportionally from answer changing. (Author/GK)

This report documents (1) the problems inherent in multiple choice testing, (2) a solution to the problems, and (3) computer programs required by the solution. Problems of multiple choice testing include scheduling inflexibility, methodological inflexibility, cheating, inefficiencies of space and student interaction time, inefficiencies of…

Describes an attempt to present multiple choice tests in an audiovisual format to engineering students. (JY)

Three measures of person-fit (the extent to which an examinee's response pattern on a multiple-choice test is consistent with his ability as estimated by total score) were computed for students taking classroom tests under 12 different instructors at a comprehensive university. Supplementary questions on each test inquired concerning students'…

Complex multiple choice (CMC) items are frequently used to test knowledge about repetitive information. In two independent comparisons, performance on the CMC items surpassed that of the multiple true-false clusters. Data indicate that performance on CMC items is inflated, and distractors on CMC items fail to prevent guessing. (Author/PN)

College undergraduates (n=38) were administered identical multiple choice tests with randomly presented answer-sheets numbered either vertically or horizontally. Of the originally-scheduled four tests during the semester, tests one and three were retested with entirely different test questions, also multiple choice, resulting in scores from tests,…

Students were allowed to offset a poor examination grade by taking a second, equivalent exam. The repeat exam provided immediate reward for using the initial exam as a study guide. Students who took two or three repeat exams scored higher on the final exam than those who took fewer repeats. There was no "curving" of the exam scores. (Author/JDH)

Multiple-choice examination answer copying was indexed by a comparison of the numbers of items answered incorrectly, and in the same way, as adjacent and distant classmates. Significant copying occurred in an experiment where test performance contributed to course grade, but it did not occur when the test did not affect the grade. (Editor/LBH)

Using multiple choice tests and a statistical method designed to identify flagrant cheaters, the authors undertook to determine (1) the magnitude of cheating on take-home and open-book exams; (2) whether the amount of cheating varied according to three types of examinations (closed-book, open-book or take-home); and (3) if cheating was affected by…

Students in an introductory college course (n=275) responded to equivalent 20-item halves of a test under number-right and formula-scoring instructions. Formula scores of those who omitted items overaged about one point lower than their comparable (formula adjusted) scores on the test half administered under number-right instructions. In contrast,…

A new item type was developed, incorporating features of "ill-structured" problems in a multiple-choice format. The problems are similar to previously developed scientific thinking tasks in requiring the examinee to go beyond the information provided; they resemble a variant of the logical reasoning item type, but demand somewhat more structuring…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the scores students earned on multiple choice tests and the number of minutes students required to complete the tests. The 5 tests were made up of 20 randomly drawn questions from a large pool of questions about research methods. Students were allowed an unlimited amount of time…

Over the years many criticisms have been offered against the multiple choice test format. Ambiguous, and emphasizing isolated information, they are also the most difficult objective tests to construct. Over-interpretation is a danger of multiple choice examinations with students picking subtle answers the test makers consider incorrect. Yet, the…

Different forms of a vocabulary test were administered to college students. Results indicated that as the frequency of specific determiners increased, they formed increasingly strong but differential guessing response sets in high and low scoring groups; however, the magnitude of the effect was much stronger for position specific determiners.…