Structure and validity of incorrect answers and errors of omission in intelligence testing with multiple choice format

Borter, Natalie; Troche, Stefan; Rammsayer, Thomas (3 July 2016). Structure and validity of incorrect answers and errors of omission in intelligence testing with multiple choice format (Unpublished). In: International Test Commission (ITC) 2016 Conference. Vancouver, Canada. 01.07.-03.07.2016.

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As in most time-limited multiple-choice tests, raw scores on intelligence tests are determined by incorrect answers and errors of omission. At the same time, it is known that in cognitive tasks of a medium level of complexity and with no time limit both response times and error rates are negatively related to intelligence. The aim of the present study was to investigate if incorrect answers and errors of omission in a time-limited multiple-choice intelligence test can be differentially predicted by response times and error rates, respectively, in a cognitive task of a medium level of complexity. For this purpose, 200 subjects completed the four subscales of Cattell’s Culture Fair Test (CFT 20-R), a five-alternative multiple-choice intelligence test and performed the Swaps Task, an untimed cognitive task of a medium level of complexity. A structural equation model with two negatively related error components represented the structure of CFT 20-R well, indicating stable individual differences in the two error types across all four subtests. Therefore, comparable levels of intelligence can be achieved by different answer patterns: some incorrect answers and some errors of omission, numerous incorrect answers and few errors of omission, or few incorrect answers and numerous errors of omission. The error-of-omission component was only predicted by response times, whereas the incorrect-answer component was only predicted by response errors in the Swaps Task. Thus, the different response patterns of subjects with comparable intelligence were predicted by their response pattern in the Swaps-Task. To date, the differential influences of these response patterns were largely overlooked in empirical research on intelligence and theory formation.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Division/Institute:	07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology 07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology > Personality Psychology, Differential Psychology and Diagnostics
UniBE Contributor:	Borter, Natalie, Troche, Stefan, Rammsayer, Thomas
Subjects:	100 Philosophy > 150 Psychology 300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 370 Education
Language:	English
Submitter:	Karin Dubler
Date Deposited:	21 Jun 2017 10:27
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 15:03
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/95823