The relation between order of completion and test performance was examined. Subjects were 116 students in two upper-division psychology courses. Tests were timed and contained both objective and nonobjective items. Contrary to previous suggestions but consistent with prior empirical findings, there was neither a consistent linear nor curvilinear relation between order of completion and performance. In one class, middle finishers tended to score lower and to be more variable in performance than early and late finishers. Results are discussed in the context of previous research on the relation between time (or order) of completion and test performance.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BridgesK. R. (1985) Test-completion speed: Its relationship to performance on three course-based objective examinations. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 45, 29–35.
2.
BurackB. (1967) Relationship between course examination scores and time taken to finish the examination, revisited. Psychological Reports, 20, 164.
3.
EbelR. L. (1972) Essentials of educational measurement. (2nd ed.) Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
4.
EdwardsA. L. (1972) Experimental design in psychological research. (4th ed.) New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
5.
JohnstonJ. J. (1977) Exam-taking speed and grades. Teaching of Psychology, 4, 148–149.
6.
MichaelJ. J.MichaelW. B. (1969) The relationship of performance on objective examinations to the order in which students complete them. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 29, 511–513.
7.
PaulC. A.RosenkoetterJ. S. (1980) The relationship between the time taken to complete an examination and the test score received. Teaching of Psychology, 7, 108–109.
8.
TerranovaC. (1972) Relationship between test scores and test time. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 40, 81–83.
