Do streaks matter in multiple-choice tests?

Hubert Janos Kiss and Adrienn Selei

Education Economics, 2018, vol. 26, issue 2, 179-193

Abstract: Success in life is determined to a large extent by school performance, which in turn depends heavily on grades obtained in exams. In this study, we investigate a particular type of exam: multiple-choice tests. More concretely, we study if patterns of correct answers in multiple-choice tests affect performance. We design an experiment to study if students who take a multiple-choice test with streaks of identical answers earn fewer points than students taking a test with a variable pattern of answers, and we study several potential mechanisms. We do not find a clear treatment effect, as multiple-choice test points were not significantly lower in a consistent manner in the treatment groups. We observe that in a streak, the likelihood to choose a different and incorrect answer than the previous ones is higher in the treated group. The number of identical previous answers does not seem to explain these choices of incorrect answers.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1080/09645292.2017.1382444

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