Title
A comparison of free-response and multiple-choice forms of verbal aptitude tests
Abstract
Three verbal item types employed in standardized
aptitude tests were administered in four formats-a
conventional multiple-choice format and three formats
requiring the examinee to produce rather than
simply to recognize correct answers. For two item
types-Sentence Completion and Antonyms-the
response format made no difference in the pattern
of correlations among the tests. Only for a multiple-
answer open-ended Analogies test were any systematic
differences found; even the interpretation of
these is uncertain, since they may result from the
speededness of the test rather than from its response
requirements. In contrast to several kinds of
problem-solving tasks that have been studied, discrete
verbal item types appear to measure essentially
the same abilities regardless of the format in
which the test is administered.
Identifiers
other: doi:10.1177/014662168200600101
Previously Published Citation
Ward, William C. (1982). A comparison of free-response and multiple-choice forms of verbal aptitude tests. Applied Psychological Measurement, 6, 1-11. doi:10.1177/014662168200600101
Suggested Citation
Ward, William C..
(1982).
A comparison of free-response and multiple-choice forms of verbal aptitude tests.
Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy,
https://hdl.handle.net/11299/101345.