The role of multiple-choice tests in increasing access to difficult-to-retrieve information |
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Authors: | Jeri L Little |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Psychology, California State University, East Bay, Hayward, CA, USA;2. Department of Psychology, Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, MI, USA;3. Department of Psychology, Washington University in St.?Louis, Louis, MO, USAjerilittle@gmail.com |
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Abstract: | Answering multiple-choice questions improves access to otherwise difficult-to-retrieve knowledge tested by those questions. Here, I examine whether multiple-choice questions can also improve accessibility to related knowledge that is not explicitly tested. In two experiments, participants first answered challenging general knowledge (trivia) multiple-choice questions containing competitive incorrect alternatives and then took a final cued-recall test with those previously tested questions and new related questions for which a previously incorrect answer was the correct answer. In Experiment 1, participants correctly answered related questions more often and faster when they had taken a multiple-choice test than when they had not. In Experiment 2, I showed that the more accurate and faster responses were not simply a result of previous exposure to those alternatives. These findings have practical implications for potential benefits of multiple-choice testing and implications for the processes that occur when individuals answer multiple-choice questions. |
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Keywords: | Testing effects learning multiple-choice retrieval-practice marginal knowledge |
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