Research supported by U.S. Public Health Service Research Grant No. 1 POL-01762-01. Portions presented at the American Psychological Association meeting (Washington, D.C., September 1967).

After analyzing four methods of selecting distractor items for multiple-choice tests, the authors recommend that classroom teachers use their own judgment in choosing test items. (Ed.)

Six scoring methods for assigning weights to right or wrong responses according to various instructions given to test takers are analyzed with respect to expected change scores and the effect of various levels of information and misinformation. Three of the methods provide feedback to the test taker. (Author/CTM)

Discusses the advantages of using multiple choice questions, highlighting the flexibility of using different variations of questions. Item writing guidelines include information on content, sensitivity, difficulty, irrelevant sources of difficulty, order, misleads, avoidance of clues, and exercises in the application of guidelines. (JKP)

Discusses a concurrent validity study of an indirect measure of English-as-a-Second-Language writing based on information processing: anagram solving, word reordering, paragraph assembly tests, etc. The criterion measure was a direct, holistic measure of writing. Analysis revealed that the indirect measure did not exhibit concurrent validity for…

This study attempts to show that information about one aspect of test rationale affects performance in a predictable manner. (Author/DEP)

Twenty-two teachers were asked to give their opinion as to the ability being tested by each item in two multiple-choice examination papers. (Author)

This study was concerned specifically with the performance of soldiers on Skill Qualification Tests (SQT) in relation to the readability of the tests. The paper also touches upon the effects of soldiers' motivation and training on SQT performance. Regarding readability, the study was designed to address three questions: does the readability of SQT…

Ordinal response modes for multiple choice tests are those under which the examinee marks one or more choices in an effort to identify the correct choice, or include it in a proper subset of the choices. Two ordinal response modes: answer-until-correct, and Coomb's elimination of choices which examinees identify as wrong, were analyzed for scoring…

Violations of four selected principles of writing multiple-choice items were introduced into an undergraduate religion course mid-term examination. Three of the flaws significantly increased test difficulty. KR-sub-20 values were lower for all of the tests containing the flawed items than for the "good" versions of the items but significantly so…

The results of a series of factor analyses of a new test of literal comprehension using a multiple-choice cloze format are summarized. These analyses were conducted in the validation of a test design to measure for the most part a factor of literal comprehension independent of IQ and inferential reading processes, yet marked by certain related…

The reading comprehension items for the Nelson Reading Skills Test, a revision of a widely used standardized reading test, were administered to several hundred fourth- and sixth-grade students in order to determine whether the student's ability to answer correctly actually depended on his comprehension of the accompanying passage. All the…

To test further for efficacy of three-option achievement items, parallel three- and five-option item tests were distributed randomly to college students. Results showed no differences in mean item difficulty, mean discrimination or total test score, but a substantial reduction in time spent on three-option items. (Author/BS)