You might have observed from previous experiences that many questions in single choice question papers follow some sort of a pattern that unintentionally help make the correct options predictable or at least help with cutting down on the incorrect ones.
Some of the commonly known ones are:
- Same option number shouldn’t be selected for multiple consecutive questions
- Options like ‘All of these’ and ‘None of these’ are mostly incorrect (though ‘All of these’ is relatively more used)
- The lengthier and more comprehensive option is usually the correct
- If all other options are proven incorrect then the leftover one has to be correct
- If the same option is shared between multiple questions, all of them shouldn’t be correct simultaneously
Are there any other patterns you observed?
I don’t tend to use #1 as I suspect that heuristic isn’t (usually) true, although it depends on the test writer. A multiple choice test with 4 answers for each question and randomly distributed answers only has a 25% chance of the same answer twice in a row and a 6.25% chance of three in a row. This can lead you to see a pattern that isn’t there. Granted, if you have no idea what the answer is, it’s reasonable to fall back on #1 and not pick the same answer as the previous. But if you have any inkinling that an answer is more likely to be correct, I’d pick that one regardless of whether the prior or next answer was in the same position.
My general process is elimination. Look at the answers and eliminate the ones you know are not correct. Then tentatively eliminate the ones you suspect are wrong. Now you have a remaining set of possible answers. Of course, if there is only one, pick that. if the remaining answers seem they could be true, pick all of the above or “X and Y” as appropriate unless the answers are contradictory. If there is contradiction, use your best guess to pick a non-contradictory answer.
That’s about it for my process.
On 2.: my anecdotal experience has honestly shown almost the opposite. Personally in the exams I’ve taken, those responses tend to be correct at least more often than not.
Other than that, the patterns seem to mostly be correct from my experience. Nothing much more to add.
To be fair, I haven’t taken an exam (other than work training modules) for over a decade, so my experience may not be up-to-date.
No.4 is the only correct assumption. The rest still relies on chance.
Now you could calculate the chances and make a strategy, but there’s a better option: Study and chose the correct answer.
You’re not studying to get a result on a test. You’re studying because you should hopefully learn the thing. The knowledge is much more worthwhile than the test result. For your own sake, spend your time studying the curriculum instead of studying how to beat the test. It’s probably easier too.
To clarify, I am not advocating that the above points are applicable in every case. These are ultimately observations just like weather forecasts and one must exercise their own common sense to determine if it is even worth approximating the correct option like this. What I tried to accomplish here was just a thought experiment and maybe a way to guide someone to the correct solution if a question did not make sense to them at all.
