I Need Your Help!
I’m putting together an online activity about fear of death. Part of it will involve two tests of mental agility. These have to be at the same level of difficulty. So I need to pre-test the two tests. That’s where you come in!
If you could follow this link, and do the two tests – it’ll only take a couple of minutes – I’d be very grateful.
There are other tests on the Philosophy Experiments site that you should try out if you haven’t already.
If you have any problems with any of the tests, or any comments – particularly if you think any of the questions in the mental agility tests are much more difficult than average – then just let me know here.
Thanks!
Category: Uncategorized 8 comments »
December 4th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
On te two tests – I have just done them. However, there is a potential problem, if you are trying to see if the tests are equal in difficulty. You should – after a set number have taken the test – swap part 2 with part 1.
The reason being apprehension/confidence. On Part 1, I was unsure if the questions were trick ones or not.
When it came to Part 2, I had experienced all the previous questions and felt more confidence.
I do not know how many people have taken this test, but I suspect that you will find that the second test will always be quicker to complete than the first, even if you swapped the tests around.
December 4th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Hi Adrian
Yes, thanks. As I’m sure you know, what you’re talking about is called an ‘order effect’. The other issue here is training. People get better because they’ve practised (with the first test).
I’ll will swap when it’s for real. And possibily I’ll also include a practise test, where it doesn’t count for the final ‘score’.
Thanks for your feedback! Appreciated!
December 6th, 2009 at 1:01 am
I’ve taken the test, the only comment I have is that it allows users to complete the test without having filled any answers out.
December 6th, 2009 at 8:56 am
Thanks Erik. Yes, that’s something that I need to sort out for the final version. Thanks again.
December 9th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
I took the test, the only comment I have is that I completed the second one faster than the first.
February 6th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
I made a mistake on the second test, which took time to correct, so my second test time was longer – Another idea – what if you just gave one test and only you (and the computer) would know which questions were the test 1 and test 2 questions. The computer would calculate the two times just as if the person were taking 2 tests. If the time is what you’re concerned about, then I’m not sure if I would allow someone to correct their answers. If someone missed more than one question I would probably just throw out their test and not use it. That might help you to determine questions people tended to have more difficulty with too. I might even track the time for each question to see if there was a question or two that was slowing down the results.
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:13 am
I took the tests, and I found that the second one was harder. I can see two reasons for this (for me at least). The first one was that the practice questions were included in the first test, so I had seen them before. The second reason was that the second test seemed like it used slightly larger numbers, and this is slightly harder to manipulate in my mind. (I know they are not very big numbers, but this is how I perceived it)
Love,
Eva
February 24th, 2010 at 8:06 am
Hi there,
I’m curious to know whether it was intentional to include a suggested answer in the drop down as I noticed that the answers given on the second test were incorrect or perhaps someone, not so great at mental arithmetic, previously used this computer to answer the test.
I’m also looking forward to knowing how this relates to a fear of death!
Ciara