Premium
Human Self‐Assessment in Multiple‐Choice Testing
Author(s) -
Hassmén Peter,
Hunt Darwin P.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of educational measurement
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.917
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1745-3984
pISSN - 0022-0655
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-3984.1994.tb00440.x
Subject(s) - multiple choice , test (biology) , psychology , correctness , usable , social psychology , cognition , significant difference , cognitive psychology , applied psychology , computer science , statistics , mathematics , multimedia , paleontology , neuroscience , biology , programming language
Research indicates that the multiple‐choice format in itself often seems to favor males over females. The present study utilizes a method that enables test takers to assess the correctness of their answers. Applying this self‐assessment method may not only make the multiple‐choice tests less biased but also provide a more comprehensive measurement of usable knowledge‐that is, the kind of knowledge about which a person is sufficiently sure so that he or she will use the knowledge to make decisions and take actions. The performance of male and female undergraduates on a conventional multiple‐choice test was compared with their performance on a multiple‐choice self‐assessment test. Results show that the difference between test scores of males and those of females was reduced when subjects were allowed to make self‐assessments. This may be explained in terms of the alleged difference in cognitive style between the genders.