Multiple-choice-questions are common in medical examinations, but guessing biases assessment results. Confidence-based-testing (CBT) integrates indicated confidence levels. It has been suggested that correctness of and confidence in an answer together indicate knowledge levels thus determining the quality of a resulting decision. We used a CBT…

One of the key feedback questions is "where to next?" and this article provides some directions as to where to next for research based on a review of the five articles in this special issue. The directions relate to the critical importance of calibration, the multidimensionality of calibration, the relation of calibration to self-regulation…

Traditional knowledge assessments rely on multiple-choice type questions that only report a right or wrong answer. The reliance within the education system on this technique infers that a student who provides a correct answer purely through guesswork possesses knowledge equivalent to a student who actually knows the correct answer. A more complete…

A single experiment is reported in which introductory psychology students were administered a multiple-choice test on psychology with either 4 (n = 78) or 5 alternatives (n = 92) prior to any lectures being delivered. Two answers were generated for each question: a small answer consisting of their favorite alternative, and a large answer…

This study evaluated large-scale state writing assessments for the inclusion of motivational characteristics in the writing task and written prompt. We identified 6 motivational variables from the authentic activity literature: time allocation, audience specification, audience intimacy, definition of task, allowance for multiple perspectives, and…

The current study investigated differences in metacognition between high school gifted (n = 44) and typical (n = 23) students and examined local calibration accuracy as a potential mechanism for partially explaining superior exam performance by gifted students. Metacognition was measured using student self-reports of metacognitive awareness,…

A total of 271 early childhood professionals completed pre- and post training knowledge assessments in True-False only (TF) or True-False with "unsure" option formats (TFU). In Study 1, only TFU format was used. In Study 2, participants were randomly assigned to TF or TFU formats. Responses which were initially "unsure" were…

Ongoing and rapid change is having a significant impact on the social and cultural contexts of assessment in higher education. Change and innovation have been driven not only by advances in our knowledge of effective practice but also by government policies, the latter often resulting in uncertainty regarding the freedoms and responsibilities of…

Eyewitness testimony plays a critical role in Western legal systems. Three experiments extended M. Goldsmith, A. Koriat, and A. Weinberg-Eliezer's (2002) framework of the regulation of grain size (precision vs. coarseness) of memory reports to eyewitness memory. In 2 experiments, the grain size of responses had a large impact on memory accuracy.…

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between being labelled either as having dyslexia or as having general special educational needs (SEN) and a child's self-esteem. Seventy-five children aged between 8 and 15 years categorised as having dyslexia (N = 26), as having general SEN (N = 26) or as having no learning difficulties (N…

Using published findings and by further analyses of existing data, the structure, validity and utility of the Academic Behavioural Confidence scale (ABC) is critically considered. Validity is primarily assessed through the scale's relationship with other existing scales as well as by looking for predicted differences. The utility of the ABC scale…

This proposal presents the results of a case study involving five 8th grade Taiwanese classes, two mathematics and three science classes. These classes used a new method of testing called confidence wagering. This paper advocates the position that confidence wagering can predict the accuracy of a student's test answer selection during…

The authors present a reconciliation of 3 distinct ways in which the research literature has defined overconfidence: (a) overestimation of one's actual performance, (b) overplacement of one's performance relative to others, and (c) excessive precision in one's beliefs. Experimental evidence shows that reversals of the first 2 (apparent…

Studies of calibration have shown that people's mean confidence in their answers (local confidence) tends to be greater than their overall estimate of the percentage of correct answers (global confidence). Moreover, whereas the former exhibits overconfidence, the latter often exhibits underconfidence. Three studies present evidence that global…

The misconceptions that students bring with them, or that arise during instruction, are a critical barrier to learning. Implicit-confidence tests, a simple modification of the multiple-choice test, can be used as a strategy for recognizing student misconceptions. An important issue, however, is whether such tests are gender-neutral. We analyzed…