Should You Change Answers on Multiple-Choice Exams? - College Info Geek

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let's get right to it so you're taking a test you're looking at a question you've already written an answer for and you're not quite sure about that answer should you change that answer conventional wisdom says no but I'm going to spoil it right up front for you yes in most cases you should change your answers many many Studies have been conducted on this question over the past 70 years and the data from those studies is clear most answer changes are from wrong to right that means students who actually do change their answers on tests tend to score better and get better grades this documented fact goes completely against the advice that test takers have been given for years we're often told to go with our gut you know stay with your instincts go with your first answer cuz if you want to change it you're probably just worriedly second guessing yourself teachers parents and even SAT prep guides have been giving out this advice for years and here's the most interesting part of this and also the most sad even though I'm giving you this data even though I'm telling you and showing you and even if you believe it you're not likely to start changing your answers you're actually likely to keep sticking with your initial answer in future tests so we're really trying to explain two things here number one why people tend to stick with their original answers in the first place and number two why even when presented with the data to show they should change them they tend to not do it now out of all the research that's been done on this topic specifically and all the information out there on cognitive biases the brain bugs that form the underlying foundation of the problem the most succinct answer that I found was in a book called Why We Make Mistakes by Joseph T henan I'm going through this book right now and so far it's a fascinating overview of many of the mistakes we make in our everyday lives and the cognitive biases that cause them for the specific mistake of sticking with your first answers on tests though Palin identifies two underlying causes of the problem number one the power of First Impressions and number two the fear of regret first impressions are so powerful because our brains can look at a situation and make a snap decision on it very quickly in addition we also tend to take limited information and then fill in the gaps with conclusions of our own this phenomenon is explained pretty well in Daniel Conan's book Thinking Fast and Slow where he outlines the differences between the brain system one and system two system one being the one that makes the snap decisions the big player here though is the fear of regret and specifically people tend to regret mistakes that come about through action rather than those that come about through inaction essentially if something's going to go wrong we would prefer that it happened because we didn't do something rather than because we did something these feelings of Greater regret from actions actually cause a memory bias and in studies done on this topic students tend to overestimate the amount of times they've changed answers from right to wrong and underestimate the opposite it's this memory bias that leads people to continue sticking with their original answers even when they're presented with the facts that show that changing them is probably a better course of action so if there was any real advice here is that if you feel like you should change an answer in a test and you feel justified in doing so you should probably do it additionally if you're feeling resistance towards changing that answer realize that it's probably caused by your own cognitive biases now this doesn't mean that you'll always be right when you change your answer on a test but statistically most of the time you will be so that's it for this video hopefully you find these tips useful on your next exam and next week's video will be the start of my accelerated Japanese challenge review which will actually be coming to you from Japan so look forward to that hey guys thanks so much for watching my my video on whether or not you should change your test answers if you want new videos every single week on being a more effective student then click the big red subscribe button right there you can also get a copy of my book on earning better grades for free and if you want one just click the picture and I'll will send you one if you want to get links to the book I mentioned or any of the other research I did for this video then head over to the companion blog post by clicking the orange logo right there if you missed last week's video it's over how to avoid making stupid mistakes on your exams so if you haven't seen it definitely check it out and if you'd like to connect or suggest ideas for new videos I'm on Twitter at tomf Frankle or you can leave a comment on this video thanks for watching [Music]