A MODEL FOR ASSESSING MULTIPLE‐CHOICE TEST PERFORMANCE
Ernest C. Dalrymple-Alford · British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology · 1970
A model is developed for the case where a subject is presented with N alternatives from which he has to choose the single correct one. It is assumed that the subject randomly selects an alternative from a subset consisting of from 1 to N of the alternatives presented. For a given set of alternatives the size, i , of this choice set will depend on the subject's knowledge, which consequently may be measured by some suitable function of i , or, alternatively, of ( N — i ). Two measures are considered, which require a modification of the usual test procedure, so that subjects are allowed repeated attempts until the correct alternative is selected. The model is shown to be successful in predicting performance in the n ‐alternative case from N ‐altentative performance ( N > n ).