title: Analyzing Test-Taking Behavior: Decision Theory Meets Psychometric Theory.
abstract: We investigate the implications of penalizing incorrect answers to multiple-choice tests, from the perspective of both test-takers and test-makers. To do so, we use a model that combines a well-known item response theory model with prospect theory (Kahneman and Tversky, Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk, Econometrica 47:263-91, 1979). Our results reveal that when test-takers are fully informed of the scoring rule, the use of any penalty has detrimental effects for both test-takers (they are always penalized in excess, particularly those who are risk averse and loss averse) and test-makers (the bias of the estimated scores, as well as the variance and skewness of their distribution, increase as a function of the severity of the penalty).
authors.affiliation: Depertament of Psychology, Fordham University, 441 East Fordham Road, Bronx, NY, 100458 , USA. budescu@fordham.edu.
authors.forename: David V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Budescu
authors.affiliation: Depertament of Psychology, Fordham University, 441 East Fordham Road, Bronx, NY, 100458 , USA.
authors.forename: Yuanchao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bo
mesh_terms: D003662:Decision Theory; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D011594:Psychometrics; D012309:Risk-Taking; D058013:Test Taking Skills / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: decision theory; formula scoring; guessing; loss aversion; mis-calibration of probabilities; multiple-choice tests; partial information