On the GRE, changing answers helps

Graduate students who have taken the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), probably would not say that it was easy. However, in 2011, the Educational Testing Service (ETS) made changes to the assessment, (now referred to as the GRE revised General Test),  that made it more test-taker friendly.

The ability to "mark and review" questions on the revamped GRE is among the features that make it more convenient for test takers. According to ETS' Web site, individuals can skip questions they struggle with and return to them later on, time permitting.

Based on the results of a study into the benefits of this feature, ETS officials have found that being able to skip and return to questions can actually boost individuals' scores. These findings, which were featured in an ETS press release, show that test takers may want to rethink trusting their first instinct when answering GRE questions.

"The results of this study disprove the fallacy that the first instinct is always correct when answering multiple-choice questions," said Lydia Liu, a senior research scientist at ETS. "Few people know that for about 80 years, research in this area has indicated the benefit of conscientious answer changing, yet the myth persists. It is important that students know that the research supports response changing when there is a good reason for doing so."

To arrive at this conclusion, ETS officials surveyed nearly 2,000 test takers regarding their approaches to answering questions on the GRE. What they found was individuals were able to increase their scores when they went back and changed their original answers to certain questions.

The GRE revised General Test's features provide prospective graduate students with clear benefits. Individuals should do what they can to ensure they are prepared to tackle this assessment and take full advantage of the chance to skip and return to questions if they get stuck.