Affective Cues and Processing Strategy: Color-Coded Examination Forms Influence Performance

Abstract

We argue that external cues provide affective information that influences processing strategy and, therefore, examination performance. Participants completed 2 supposedly different forms of a midterm examination; in fact, randomly assigned participants completed identical midterm examinations printed on either red or blue paper. Blue paper led to superior performance, especially for difficult questions. We note a method for appropriately adjusting scores to control for form effects while maintaining percentile rankings within and across forms. We discuss implications for test administration, examination form effects, and adjustment of scores.