Not all errors are created equal: metacognition and changing answers on multiple-choice tests
Not all errors are created equal: metacognition and changing answers on multiple-choice tests
Two experiments investigated the role of metacognition in changing answers to multiple-choice, general-knowledge questions. Both experiments revealed qualitatively different errors produced by speeded responding versus confusability amongst the alternatives; revision completely corrected the former, but had no effect on the latter. Experiment 2 also demonstrated that a pretest, designed to make participants' actual experience with answer changing either positive or negative, affected the tendency to correct errors. However, this effect was not apparent in the proportion of correct responses; it was only discovered when the metacognitive component to answer changing was isolated with a Type 2 signal-detection measure of discrimination. Overall, the results suggest that future research on answer changing should more closely consider the metacognitive factors underlying answer changing, using Type 2 signal-detection theory to isolate these aspects of performance.
28-34
Higham, P.A.
4093b28f-7d58-4d18-89d4-021792e418e7
Gerrard, C.
6afddb1c-a7f5-42b6-a617-a5c0ee965df9
2005
Higham, P.A.
4093b28f-7d58-4d18-89d4-021792e418e7
Gerrard, C.
6afddb1c-a7f5-42b6-a617-a5c0ee965df9
Higham, P.A. and Gerrard, C.
(2005)
Not all errors are created equal: metacognition and changing answers on multiple-choice tests.
Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59, .
Abstract
Two experiments investigated the role of metacognition in changing answers to multiple-choice, general-knowledge questions. Both experiments revealed qualitatively different errors produced by speeded responding versus confusability amongst the alternatives; revision completely corrected the former, but had no effect on the latter. Experiment 2 also demonstrated that a pretest, designed to make participants' actual experience with answer changing either positive or negative, affected the tendency to correct errors. However, this effect was not apparent in the proportion of correct responses; it was only discovered when the metacognitive component to answer changing was isolated with a Type 2 signal-detection measure of discrimination. Overall, the results suggest that future research on answer changing should more closely consider the metacognitive factors underlying answer changing, using Type 2 signal-detection theory to isolate these aspects of performance.
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Published date: 2005
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Local EPrints ID: 18325
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/18325
PURE UUID: 608be2dd-1846-4803-90a9-1d56ce8c258b
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Date deposited: 16 Dec 2005
Last modified: 27 Apr 2022 01:42
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C. Gerrard
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