Here's a copy of the quiz taken from Human-Nets. Those interested in such things should get a copy of R.M. Balzer, Human Use of World Knowledge, ISI/RR-73-7, Information Sciences Institute, March 1974, Arpa Order No. 2223/1. It contains fairly detailed analysis of text such as "Sooner or later everyone runs across the problem of pottling something to a sprock inside the lorch." 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. Date: 15 Sep 1981 15:14:39-PDT From: ihuxo!hobs at Berkeley (John Hobson) Reply-to: "ihuxo!hobs in care of" Subject: test-taking skills Charlie-- The hypothetical exam on test-taking skills that you submitted to HUMAN-NETS Digest V4 #46 has been an object of much interest here at Indian Hill. A number of us have taken the test and we would like to see just how well we did. The answers and reasons for those answers are as follows: 1. The purpose of the cluss in furmpaling is to remove a. cluss-prags c. cloughs b. tremalis d. plumots 1--a. The cluss is mentioned in the question and in the answer. 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 2--a. The word trassig in the question and the verb trasses in the answer. 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 3--c. The key word here is "usually", along with "frequently" in the question. Anyway, it is often best to give a non-absolute answer in case there is an exception. 4. The fribbled breg will minter best with an a. derst c. sortar b. morst d. ignu 4--d. The giveaway here is the article "an" since "ignu" is the only answer staring with a vowel. 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 5--a. This is a bit more subtle, but we think that since the question calls for "reasons" in the plural and (a) is the only answer with more than one reason, that the answer is (a). 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 6--b. Vost is mentioned in all possible answers, so vost must always be present. 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 7--c. Since in question 4 (above), the fribbled breg was mintering with an ignu, the thing mintering with the ignu is, of course, the fibbled breg. 8. a. c. b. d. We haven't the foggiest. Perhaps "all of the above". I once took a multiple-guess test in English History where the last question was: The only British Prime Minister ever assassinated was: a. Clement Atlee e. None of the above b. Spencer Perceval f. One or more of the above c. The Duke of Wellington g. Don't know d. All of the above h. Don't care b, f, g and h were accepted as correct answers. John Hobson ihuxo!hobs Bell Labs -- Indian Hill Date: 18 Sep 1981 12:13 PDT From: Kolling at PARC-MAXC Subject: test-taking skills About that test..... I think the answer to 2 is b, not a. Either a or b is possible (not c because it isn't grammatically correct, and not d because it's fuzzy due to "easily". Looking at the answers as follows: 1. a 2. a or b 3. c 4. d 5. a 6. b 7. c 8. ? Note the pattern a,b,c,d, so I think 2 is b and 8 is d. Karen (Now you know how I got through school.) Date: 29 September 1981 0858-EDT (Tuesday) From: Mary.Shaw at CMU-10A Subject: Test-taking skills I agree with Karen on the answers: a, b, c, d, a, b, c, d. John's reasons are correct except for #s 2 and 8. Karen is right about 8 (it's the pattern). The reason #2 is b rather than a is that option b is markedly dissimilar from all the others. (One of the rules of test-writing is to avoid making the right answer stand out because it's much longer or shorter than the others, especially if it's longer because of a qualifying clause as in b here.) Mary