Effects of Specific Cueing on Multiple-Choice Test Performance

Bruce R. Dunn

doi:10.2466/pr0.1979.44.3c.1051

Effects of Specific Cueing on Multiple-Choice Test Performance

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1979.44.3c.1051 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 44 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. 1051-1054

Author(s):

Bruce R. Dunn

Keyword(s):

Test Performance ◽

Test Scores ◽

Ecological Validity ◽

Multiple Choice ◽

Past Research ◽

Choice Test ◽

Multiple Choice Test ◽

Test Items ◽

Class Presentation ◽

Related Test

Past research has shown that grouping related multiple-choice test items together does not increase students' performance on power tests, even when those groupings are sequenced in the order of class presentation. The present research examined the hypothesis, derived from the cue-dependent forgetting hypothesis, that grouping of related test items does not improve test performance because grouping per se is not a sufficiently powerful retrieval cue. Two experiments were conducted to determine whether specific cueing (placing author headings and subheadings above related blocks of test items) increased students' test scores. Results for both were negative; specific cueing did not significantly increase mean test scores. The ecological validity of the cue-dependent hypothesis was questioned.

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Targeted Linguistic Simplification of Science Test Items for English Learners

American Educational Research Journal ◽

10.3102/0002831220905562 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 57 (5) ◽

pp. 2175-2209

Author(s):

Tracy Noble ◽

Stephen G. Sireci ◽

Craig S. Wells ◽

Rachel R. Kachchaf ◽

Ann S. Rosebery ◽

...

Keyword(s):

English Learners ◽

Test Performance ◽

Multiple Choice ◽

Choice Test ◽

Multiple Choice Test ◽

Linguistic Features ◽

Test Items ◽

Grade 5 ◽

Science Test ◽

Positive Effect

In this experimental study, 20 multiple-choice test items from the Massachusetts Grade 5 science test were linguistically simplified, and original and simplified test items were administered to 310 English learners (ELs) and 1,580 non-ELs in four Massachusetts school districts. This study tested the hypothesis that specific linguistic features of test items contributed to construct-irrelevant variance in science test scores of ELs. Simplifications targeted specific linguistic features, to identify those features with the largest impacts on ELs’ test performance. Of all the linguistic simplifications used in this study, adding visual representations to answer choices had the largest positive effect on ELs’ performance. These findings have significant implications for the design of multiple-choice test items that are fair and valid for ELs.

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Learning vs Grade Orientation: Academic Achievement, Self-Reported Orientation, and Personality Variables

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1987.60.1.145 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 60 (1) ◽

pp. 145-146 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Duane R. Kauffmann ◽

Brenda Chupp ◽

Kent Hershberger ◽

Lisa Martin ◽

Ken Eastman

Keyword(s):

Academic Achievement ◽

Locus Of Control ◽

Test Performance ◽

Test Scores ◽

Multiple Choice ◽

Choice Test ◽

Multiple Choice Test ◽

Personality Variables ◽

Psychology Course ◽

Written Assignments

This research explored relationships between Eison's LOGO instrument and several personality and academic measures in a credit/no credit psychology course ( N = 44). Learning orientation (LO) was correlated with dogmatism and marginally (.07) with multiple-choice test performance, but not with Machiavellianism, Locus of Control, or performance on course written assignments. Grade orientation was related to Machiavellianism and marginally (.07) to test scores. Self-rating of orientation was correlated with both written and test performance, but not LO or GO.

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Format of Options in a Multiple Choice Test Vis-a-Vis Test Performance

International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE) ◽

10.11591/ijere.v6i2.7594 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 157

Author(s):

Hermabeth O. Bendulo ◽

Erlinda D Tibus ◽

Rhodora A Bande ◽

Voltaire Q Oyzon ◽

Myrna L Macalinao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Test Performance ◽

Multiple Choice ◽

Choice Test ◽

Educational Context ◽

Multiple Choice Test ◽

Test Items ◽

Lower Case ◽

Instructional Needs ◽

Insignificant Difference ◽

The Mean

Testing or evaluation in an educational context is primarily used to measure or evaluate and authenticate the academic readiness, learning advancement, acquisition of skills, or instructional needs of learners. This study tried to determine whether the varied combinations of arrangements of options and letter cases in a Multiple-Choice Test (MCT) affect the test performance of the homogenous BEED students. A test was designed and administered to test the performance across test items employing different arrangement of options (Cascading, Inverted N, Z eye movement, and One-line Horizontal) and across case of letter options (upper and lower case), that is, a total of eight (8) treatments. The statistical analyses revealed that there is an insignificant difference in the mean performance of students in relation to letter cases and arrangement of letter choices in a multiple choice test. Thus, the test performance of students in a multiple choice type of test does not depend on either letter cases or arrangement of letter choices.

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