Title |
The memorial consequences of multiple-choice testing
|
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Published in |
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, April 2007
|
DOI | 10.3758/bf03194051 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Elizabeth J. Marsh, Henry L. Roediger, Robert A. Bjork, Elizabeth L. Bjork |
Abstract |
The present article addresses whether multiple-choice tests may change knowledge even as they attempt to measure it. Overall, taking a multiple-choice test boosts performance on later tests, as compared with non-tested control conditions. This benefit is not limited to simple definitional questions, but holds true for SAT II questions and for items designed to tap concepts at a higher level in Bloom's (1956) taxonomy of educational objectives. Students, however, can also learn false facts from multiple-choice tests; testing leads to persistence of some multiple-choice lures on later general knowledge tests. Such persistence appears due to faulty reasoning rather than to an increase in the familiarity of lures. Even though students may learn false facts from multiple-choice tests, the positive effects of testing outweigh this cost. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Australia | 1 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Scientists | 1 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 10 | 5% |
France | 2 | <1% |
Ireland | 2 | <1% |
Brazil | 2 | <1% |
United Kingdom | 2 | <1% |
South Africa | 1 | <1% |
Canada | 1 | <1% |
Switzerland | 1 | <1% |
Belgium | 1 | <1% |
Other | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 187 | 89% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 39 | 19% |
Researcher | 29 | 14% |
Student > Master | 24 | 11% |
Professor > Associate Professor | 17 | 8% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 13 | 6% |
Other | 56 | 27% |
Unknown | 32 | 15% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 73 | 35% |
Social Sciences | 32 | 15% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 7 | 3% |
Computer Science | 7 | 3% |
Neuroscience | 7 | 3% |
Other | 44 | 21% |
Unknown | 40 | 19% |