Gettig Jacob P
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Midwestern University Chicago College of Pharmacy, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515, USA.
Pharmacotherapy. 2006 Apr;26(4):558-62. doi: 10.1592/phco.26.4.558.
To determine the prevalence of established multiple-choice test-taking correct and incorrect answer cues in the American College of Clinical Pharmacy's Updates in Therapeutics: The Pharmacotherapy Preparatory Course, 2005 Edition, as an equal or lesser surrogate indication of the prevalence of such cues in the Pharmacotherapy board certification examination.
All self-assessment and patient case question-and-answer sets were assessed individually to determine if they were subject to selected correct and incorrect answer cues commonly seen in multiple-choice question writing. If the question was considered evaluable, correct answer cues-longest answer, mid-range number, one of two similar choices, and one of two opposite choices-were tallied. In addition, incorrect answer cues- inclusionary language and grammatical mismatch-were also tallied. Each cue was counted if it did what was expected or did the opposite of what was expected. Multiple cues could be identified in each question.
A total of 237 (47.7%) of 497 questions in the manual were deemed evaluable. A total of 325 correct answer cues and 35 incorrect answer cues were identified in the 237 evaluable questions. Most evaluable questions contained one to two correct and/or incorrect answer cue(s). Longest answer was the most frequently identified correct answer cue; however, it was the least likely to identify the correct answer. Inclusionary language was the most frequently identified incorrect answer cue. Incorrect answer cues were considerably more likely to identify incorrect answer choices than correct answer cues were able to identify correct answer choices.
The use of established multiple-choice test-taking cues is unlikely to be of significant help when taking the Pharmacotherapy board certification examination, primarily because of the lack of questions subject to such cues and the inability of correct answer cues to accurately identify correct answers. Incorrect answer cues, especially the use of inclusionary language, almost always will accurately identify an incorrect answer choice. Assuming that questions in the preparatory course manual were equal or lesser surrogates of those in the board certification examination, it is unlikely that intuition alone can replace adequate preparation and studying as the sole determinant of examination success.
确定美国临床药学院《治疗学进展：药物治疗预备课程》2005年版中既定的多项选择题答题正确和错误线索的出现频率，作为药物治疗委员会认证考试中此类线索出现频率的等同或更低替代指标。
对所有自我评估和患者病例问答集进行单独评估，以确定它们是否存在多项选择题编写中常见的特定正确和错误答题线索。如果问题被认为可评估，则统计正确答案线索（最长答案、中等范围数字、两个相似选项之一、两个相反选项之一）。此外，还统计错误答案线索（包容性语言和语法不匹配）。如果线索符合预期或与预期相反，则进行计数。每个问题中可能识别出多个线索。
手册中的497个问题中，共有237个（47.7%）被认为可评估。在237个可评估问题中，共识别出325个正确答案线索和35个错误答案线索。大多数可评估问题包含一到两个正确和/或错误答案线索。最长答案是最常被识别出的正确答案线索；然而，它最不可能识别出正确答案。包容性语言是最常被识别出的错误答案线索。错误答案线索比正确答案线索更有可能识别出错误答案选项。
在参加药物治疗委员会认证考试时，使用既定的多项选择题答题线索不太可能有显著帮助，主要原因是此类线索适用的问题较少，且正确答案线索无法准确识别正确答案。错误答案线索，尤其是包容性语言的使用，几乎总能准确识别出错误答案选项。假设预备课程手册中的问题是委员会认证考试问题的等同或更低替代指标，仅靠直觉不太可能取代充分的准备和学习，成为考试成功的唯一决定因素。
