Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Instinct And Second-Guessing Oneself On Tests, Bethany Bennett, Nicole Lafser

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

When taking exams, students may find themselves deciding between the answer that first comes to mind, and a second logical answer. When given the option to record both first instinct and second-guess answers, are students able to answer correctly more on their first or second try? Furthermore, do those students who tend to answer correctly on their second try have lower grade point averages? If so, this would indicate that when taking tests, they have not been able to fully represent their knowledge. In the present study, 16 participants read an informative passage and completed a series of ten open-ended …