Consider the interpretation of psychological findings. You are taking a multiple choice assessment, similar to this one, when you encounter a quandary. You see a series of four possible answer choices, two of which seem very plausible conclusions. What do you do?
Answer
Establish a process of elimination and make your best possible guess.
Decide that you have a 25% chance of getting the answer right, and pick at random.
Choose the BEST possible explanation/answer.
Ask a friend for help.
2 answers
We'll be glad to check your answer.
These hints on test-wiseness will give you your answer.
Advice to the exam-lorn ("test wiseness")
I. Answer easy items first. If have to think about any question after reading for more than a minute, move on.
A. Can get Qs you are sure of correct within the time limit. Spending too much time on hard questions, might keep you from completing easier items later in the test.
B. Can form associations on later items that might help with previous ones.
C. Can break negative sets/fixations. Sometimes we develop ways of looking at something that interferes with our solving a problem. Information in later questions might help us view a previous question in a different light.
II. With multiple choice, treat each alternative as a T-F question. If you don't know right answer, before guessing, eliminate wrong alternatives. This increases the chances of your guess being correct.
III. If first hunch is relatively sure, keep it. But if you are unsure or misread Q, don't hesitate to change first hunch.
IV. Carefully read items and directions. (In one high school experiment, the test directions indicated to just sign the paper and turn it in. Many students failed to read the directions and waded through the whole test.)
V. Answer Q asked. An alternative may have a true statement, but it does not answer the question asked.
VI. If no penalty for guessing, answer all Qs.
VII. Multiple choice alternatives with terms like "always" and "never" are usually wrong.
Advice to the exam-lorn ("test wiseness")
I. Answer easy items first. If have to think about any question after reading for more than a minute, move on.
A. Can get Qs you are sure of correct within the time limit. Spending too much time on hard questions, might keep you from completing easier items later in the test.
B. Can form associations on later items that might help with previous ones.
C. Can break negative sets/fixations. Sometimes we develop ways of looking at something that interferes with our solving a problem. Information in later questions might help us view a previous question in a different light.
II. With multiple choice, treat each alternative as a T-F question. If you don't know right answer, before guessing, eliminate wrong alternatives. This increases the chances of your guess being correct.
III. If first hunch is relatively sure, keep it. But if you are unsure or misread Q, don't hesitate to change first hunch.
IV. Carefully read items and directions. (In one high school experiment, the test directions indicated to just sign the paper and turn it in. Many students failed to read the directions and waded through the whole test.)
V. Answer Q asked. An alternative may have a true statement, but it does not answer the question asked.
VI. If no penalty for guessing, answer all Qs.
VII. Multiple choice alternatives with terms like "always" and "never" are usually wrong.
1 answer