This paper looks at four simple psychophysical experiments and spells out the implications that their results have for the marking of examinations on the basis that: (i) the process of marking examination scripts is dominated by the psychology of the assessor, not by the material that is being marked; (ii) the examiner marking a psychology essay is, psychologically speaking, the same assessor as the participant who participates in a psychophysical experiment; and (iii) the psychology of assessment (in general) can be inferred from a psychophysical experiment to an extent that is impossible with examination scripts. The difference is that psychophysical stimuli admit physical measurement, from which accuracy of assessment can be calculated, while examination scripts do not. The paper finishes with some suggestions how the reliability (not necessarily the validity) of examination marking might be improved.
References
1.
BairdJ. C.GreenD. M.LuceR. D. (1980). Variability and sequential effects in cross-modality matching of area and loudness. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 6, 277–89.
2.
BairdJ. C.LewisC.RomerD. (1970). Relative frequencies of numerical responses in ratio estimation. Perception and Psychophysics, 8, 358–362.
3.
BraidaL. D.DurlachN. I. (1972). Intensity perception. II. Resolution in one-interval paradigms. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 51, 483–502.
4.
CoxR. (1967). Examinations and higher education: A survey of the literature. Universities Quarterly, 21, 292–340.
5.
CrossD. V. (1973). Sequential dependencies and regression in psychophysical judgements. Perception and Psychophysics, 14, 547–552.
6.
DawesR. M.CorriganB. (1974). Linear models in decision making. Psychological Bulletin, 81, 95–106.
7.
EdwardsD. J. (1979). Some factors affecting the reliability of tutor grades in the Open University. Assessment in Higher Education, 5, 16–44.
8.
EellsW. C. (1930). Reliability of repeated grading of essay type examinations. Journal of Educational Psychology, 21, 48–52.
9.
GarnerW. R. (1962). Uncertainty and structure as psychological concepts. New York: Wiley.
10.
GulliksenH. (1987). Theory of mental tests. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. (Original work published New York: Wiley, 1950).
11.
HartogP.RhodesE. C.BurtC. (1936). The marks of examiners. London: Macmillan.
12.
HillB. J. (1975). Reliability of marking in B.Sc. examinations in engineering. International Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education, 3, 97–106.
13.
HollingworthH. L. (1909). The inaccuracy of movement. Archives of Psychology, No. 13.
14.
HowsonA. G.BarnardA. D.CrightonD. G.DaviesN.GardinerA. D.Jagger (1995). Tackling the mathematics problem. London: The London Mathematical Society.
15.
HusbandsC. T. (1976). Ideological bias in the marking of examinations. A method of testing for its presence and its implications. Research in Education, 15, 17–38.
16.
Inspectorate of Schools (1992). GCSE examinations: Quality and standards. Summer 1992. London: HMSO.
17.
JesteadtW.WierC. C.GreenD. M. (1977). Intensity discrimination as a function of frequency and sensation level. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 61, 169–177.
18.
LamingD. (1990). The reliability of a certain university examination compared with the precision of absolute judgements. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 42A, 239–254.
19.
LamingD. (1991). Reconciling Fechner and Stevens?Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 14, 188–191.
20.
LamingD. (1997). The measurement of sensation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
21.
LamingD. (2004). Human judgement: The eye of the beholder. London: Thomson Learning.
22.
MurphyR. J. L. (1978). Reliability of marking in eight GCE examinations. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 48, 196–200.
23.
MurphyR. J. L. (1982). A further report of investigations into the reliability of marking of GCE examinations. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 52, 58–63.
24.
PollackI. (1952). The information of elementary auditory displays. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 24, 745–749.
25.
PollackI. (1953). The information of elementary auditory displays. II. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 25, 765–769.
26.
TarshJ. (1990, October 1990). Graduate employment and degree class. Employment Gazette, pp. 489–500.
27.
TomlinsonM. (2002). Inquiry into A-level standards. (Report presented to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, December 2002). London: Department for Education and Skills.
28.
TorgersonW. S. (1958). Theory and methods of scaling. New York: Wiley.
29.
WardL. M.LockheadG. R. (1970). Sequential effects and memory in category judgements. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 84, 27–34.
30.
WierC. C.JesteadtW.GreenD. M. (1977). Frequency discrimination as a function of frequency and sensation level. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 61, 178–184.
