How to solve number series items: Can watching video tutorials increase test scores?

How to Get Better: Taking Notes Mediates the Effect of a Video Tutorial on Number Series

“…As a result, a higher number of items reflecting such notes should also be associated with higher test scores for test takers who did not watch such a video tutorial prior to the assessment. Finally, these considerations also align with theorized explanations for corresponding test-score increases after watching a video tutorial (e.g., increasing the chance to find relevant rules by freeing up cognitive resources; being guided step-by-step through the solution process; Schneider and Sparfeldt 2021 ). Such a note-taking behavior might thus serve as an intermediary link between a number series video tutorial and the corresponding test-score increases.…”

“…In the number series video tutorial shown to the students of the experimental group, the processing phases underlying number series ( Holzman et al 1983 ) were explained, and a notation was introduced in detail illustrating the relationships between the following numbers and the corresponding mathematical operation(s) of a number series item (see Figure 1 ). In the figural matrices video tutorial shown to the students of the control group, six prominent rules underlying many figural matrices items (e.g., addition and subtraction of symbols) were illustrated and explained (see also Schneider and Sparfeldt 2021 ).…”

“…For example, students of an experimental group who watched a short video tutorial teaching the underlying rules of figural matrices tasks reached higher test scores in an afterwards-administered figural matrices test than students of a control group who watched a task-irrelevant video before the test (e.g., a nutrition video, Schneider et al 2020 ; see also Loesche et al 2015 ; Krautter et al 2021 ; Levacher et al 2021 ). Similarly, students of an experimental group who watched a short number series video tutorial based on the mentioned illustration model subsequently solved more number series items than students of a control group who watched a task-irrelevant video tutorial ( d = .44, Schneider and Sparfeldt 2021 ). However, the specific mechanisms for the test-score increases caused by watching a video tutorial remain largely unknown.…”

“…Studies investigating video tutorials showed significant intelligence test-score increases for popular rule-based task types, such as figural matrices or number series of up to large effect sizes (e.g., Schneider et al 2020 , d ≥ 1.19; see also Loesche et al 2015 ; Schneider and Sparfeldt 2021 ). Correspondingly, increased test scores might lead to an overestimation of a person’s true cognitive ability, possibly resulting in better chances for selection as well as false selection and admission decisions.…”

“…In addition to these assumed processing phases, inspecting the descriptions and rules of number series items (e.g., Arendasy and Sommer 2012 ; Holzman et al 1983 ; Loe et al 2018 ; Verguts et al 2002 ) reveals further commonalities in the structure of such items, which become even more apparent when inspecting the number series items of the previously mentioned published tests. Furthermore, important characteristics of number series items and the solving process of number series items can be summarized efficiently in a parsimonious illustration model ( Schneider and Sparfeldt 2021 ).…”