Acquiescence-Dissent Response Set on an Elementary True-False Achievement Test

Abstract

A yes-no (true-false) psuedo-achievement test, designed to measure acquiescence-dissent response tendencies, was given to 328 first-grade children. That the obtained distribution of responses differed significantly (.001) from the exptected chance (binomial) distribution indicated that students were influenced by response set. Significantly (.001) more high scores and low scores were obtained than expected by chance. Thus the influence of dissent set in addition to that of acquiescence was suggested. Whether acquiescence-dissent represents one or two variables could not be determined. Implications for the validity of testing the achievement of young children are discussed.

True‐False, Alternate‐Choice, and Multiple‐Choice Items

“…Many critics believe that TF items can measure only trivial, factual information. Psychometricians are concerned about the error introduced by random guessing and the possibility that individual response styles may dispose some examinees to guess "true" and others to guess "false" (Grosse & Wright, 1985;Larkins & Swint, 1976).…”