Date: 9 Sep 1981 From: research!alice!xchar [ Bell Labs, Murray Hill ] Reply-to: "research!alice!xchar care of" Subject: test-taking skills In HUMAN-NETS V4 #37, Greg Woods pointed out that high scores on multiple-choice tests may (as in his case) reflect highly developed test-taking skills rather than great intelligence. The test below illustrates Greg's thesis that one can often make correct choices that are "not based at all on...knowledge of the subject matter." I got this test from Joseph Kruskal (Bell Labs), who got it from Clyde Kruskal (NYU Courant Institute), who got it from Jerome Berkowitz (Courant Institute). Unfortunately, Prof. Berkowitz is currently out of town, so I cannot trace its origin any farther back. I will supply the generally accepted answers, and perhaps some explanations, later. --Charlie Harris * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The following is a hypothetical examination on which you could get every item correct by knowing some of the pitfalls of test construction. See how well you can do! (Circle the letter preceding the correct response.) 1. The purpose of the cluss in furmpaling is to remove a.cluss-prags c. cloughs b. tremalis d. plumots 2. Trassig is true when a. lusps trasses the vom b. the viskal flans, if the viskal is donwil or zortil c. the begul d. dissles lisk easily 3. The sigia frequently overfesks the trelsum because a. all sigia are mellious b. sigias are always vortil c. the reelsum is usually tarious d. no trelsa are feskable 4. The fribbled breg will minter best with an a. derst c. sortar b. morst d. ignu 5. Among the reasons for tristal doss are a. The sabs foped and the foths tinzed b. the dredges roted with the orots c. few racobs were accapted in sluth d. most of the polats were thonced 6. Which of the following is/are always present when trossels are being gruven? a. rint and vost c. shum and vost b. vost d. vost and plone 7. The mintering function of the ignu is most effectively carried out in connection with a. razma tol c. the fribbled breg b. the grosing stantol d. a frally slush 8. a. c. b. d.