Difficulty and Discriminability of Introductory Psychology Test Items

Abstract

We analyzed multiple-choice questions provided in test banks for introductory psychology textbooks. In Study 1, we found that about 70% of students responded correctly to a given item, and there was a significant but inconsistent difference in difficulty across chapter topics. In Study 2, a single class of introductory psychology students took comprehensive exams of randomly selected test items that varied in estimated difficulty. As before, chapter topic had a significant, yet inconsistent effect, but test items had several desirable properties compared to Study 1. These data allow several recommendations for instructors who want to improve the characteristics of the multiple-choice exams they use.