A little bias goes a long way: the effects of feedback on the strategic regulation of accuracy on formula-scored tests

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Applied
Michelle M ArnoldBeatriz Martín-Luengo

Abstract

Under formula-scoring rules for multiple-choice exams, a penalty is applied to incorrect responses to reduce noise in the observed score. To avoid the penalty individuals are allowed to "pass," and therefore they must be able to strategically regulate the accuracy of their reporting by deciding which and how many questions to answer. To investigate the effect of bias within this framework, Higham (2007) introduced bias profiles, which show the score obtained under formula scoring (corrected score) as a function of the omission rate. Bias profiles estimate the optimal number of questions that should be answered to maximize the corrected score (i.e., optimal bias). Our initial research showed that individuals tend to be too conservative when setting reporting criteria, "omitting" too many answers. The present three experiments introduced a feedback manipulation whereby participants were informed of the optimal omission rate after completing a test and asked to alter their reporting decisions accordingly. This feedback and concomitant alteration of reporting decisions led to improved corrected scores on true/false (Experiment 1), 2-alternative tests (Experiments 2), and 4-alternative tests (Experiment 3). Importantly, corrected sc...Continue Reading

Citations

Aug 27, 2013·Acta Psychologica·Michelle M Arnold
Sep 29, 2018·Behavior Research Methods·Philip A Higham, D Paul Higham
Oct 27, 2020·Frontiers in Psychology·Beatriz Martín-LuengoYury Shtyrov
May 6, 2021·Human Brain Mapping·Beatriz Martín-LuengoAlina Leminen

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