An Empirical Model for the Corroboration of Suspected Cheating on Multiple-Choice Tests

Abstract

SINCE early in the history of objective or &dquo;new-type&dquo; tests, users of them have been concerned with their peculiar susceptability to cheating (Bird, 1927). Perhaps the most widely used, and certainly the most widely recommended, type of these tests is the multiple-choice variety in its several forms, and one of the more common forms of cheating occurs when a student copies answers from one or more of his neighbors in the testing situation. This type of cheat-ing on multiple-choice tests is usually so cleverly done that although a proctor may be highly suspicious of a pair of students, he may not feel certain enough to press charges. When he does press charges, he frequently fails to secure an admission of guilt. Without the ad-mission of guilt, administrators are unlikely to take disciplinary ac-tion against the only-suspected students. By comparing the answer sheets of the two involved students, definitive evidence of the suspected cheating is often expected to be