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Helpful Hints for Taking Take-Home Tests

Remember, because you have several days to take these tests, and because they are open-book, open-note, and open discussion, YOU WILL BE HELD TO A HIGHER STANDARD for your answers than if you were taking a test in the 50-minute class time. Below are some tips for how to meet that standard with a minimum amount of pain and suffering on your part.

1. READ AND REVIEW THE MATERIAL in advance. Just as you would study for an in-class test, you must study for a take-home test in order to do well on it. Don't wait until you get the exam to do this. Studying beforehand will shorten the time it takes you to find the relevant passages in the text, and will speed up the time it takes you to compose your answers.

2. STUDY THE QUESTIONS at the end of every chapter or on the One-Key site. I will be using these often as questions on exams. Think about answers to them--review the text material or your notes as needed to obtain those answers. If you can, jot down brief answers to them as part of your studying. This will shorten your test-taking time considerably, if those questions are on the next test!

3. OUTLINE YOUR ANSWERS on a separate sheet of paper before you begin to write them down. What are the major points that you wish to make? What data do you need to put where in your arguments, in order to support them? Find those data in the text or in your notes, and jot them down in your outline where you will need to refer to them.

4. WRITE OUT YOUR ANSWERS to essay questions on a separate sheet of paper first, before putting your answers on the test sheets. Use your outline as a guide to the creation of your prose answers.

5. GET A FRIEND (preferably one not in this class--such a person is less likely to "read between the lines"), YOUR COURSE TUTOR, OR WRITING TUTOR to read your answers before you put them on the test sheets. Is the meaning of your prose clear? How well does it match your outline? Are you saying what you intended to say?

6. CHECK YOUR "DIRECTIVE WORDS" handout to be sure that you are answering the question in the way that you have been asked to answer it. Ask your friend or writing tutor to check this for you, too!

7. DON'T REPEAT THE QUESTION that you have been asked. For example, if a test question reads: "According to Wade & Tavris, what is the definition of Psychology?"--don't start your answer by writing "According to Wade & Tavris, the following is the definition of Psychology..." In doing so, you just wasted time and space. I know what the question is--don't bother repeating it in your answer.

8. DON'T "DUMPTRUCK." This is "teacher-ese" for when students write down everything that they know about a topic, with or without ever answering the question. "Dumptrucking" takes up time and space, and worse--it often leads the reader to think that you are uncertain about your answer; that you are "shotgunning" the answer in the hopes that you will "hit" at least some of the points that the reader is looking for. For example, if I ask you to describe Piaget's stage theory of child development, don't start your essay by telling me about Piaget, where he grew up, and how he arrived at his theories. I already know that! Keep your answer focused on the question that you are being asked. Don't put in "filler."

9. CHECK YOUR SPELLING. In an open-note, open-book take-home test, there is no excuse for spelling something incorrectly. To do so shows a lack of seriousness and time-taking. It leads the reader to think that your answer is sloppier than perhaps it actually is. Again, use your friend or writing tutor to help you with this.

10. USE THE NUMBER OR POINTS a question is worth as a rough guide for how to answer the question. For example, the question "Describe how science as a way of knowing is different than other ways of knowing" might be worth 2 points. In your answer, I am looking for the two criteria that the acquisition of some knowledge must meet in order for that acquisition to be considered an example of science as a way of knowing: all knowledge must be based on experience, and that knowledge must be replicable. If you have both of these points in your answer, you will receive 2 points. If you only have one of these points, you earn one point, etc.

11. THINK LIKE A SOCIAL SCIENTIST. That means that if there are data to support your argument, use them! If there are data to refute another's argument, use those too! If I ask you "which hypothesis for why animals sleep best fits the data as you know them?," don't choose an hypothesis that you just refuted one paragraph ago. If the data fail to support an hypothesis, then that is usually taken as evidence that the hypothesis is incorrect. Choose your answers carefully, and support them with evidence as appropriate. If you cannot support them with evidence, then support them with reasoning. But don't try to support them with your personal feelings on the matter.

Effective answers to essay questions depend in part upon a clear understanding of the meanings of important directive words. These words (e.g., "explain," "discuss," "compare") indicate the way in which the instructor wants you to present the material. Background knowledge of the subject matter is essential, but mere evidence of this is not enough to earn you points on an essay--you must answer the question that you are being asked. In other words, you have to learn to use what you know relative to the question that is being asked. This requires a knowledge--among other things--of the meaning of directive words. For example, if you are asked to compare the sexual competition hypothesis of male langur infanticide with the social pathology hypothesis of the same, you will get no credit if you merely describe the two hypotheses. Or, if you are asked to evaluate the three hypotheses regarding langur infanticide, you would get no points for merely listing them. An essay is only satisfactory if it answers directly the question that is being asked.

Below is a list of common directive words that you might see in this class, or in other essay tests on campus. Feel free to consult this handout as you are taking the take-home tests for this class, to be sure that you are answering the question in the manner that is required.

1. Analyze: determine the nature and relationship of the component parts of; explain; break down. Ex. "Analyze the mechanism by which the ear provides us with information about different frequencies of sound."

2. Assess: judge the value or character of something; appraise; evaluate. Ex. "Assess the relative strength of three different stage theories in child development."

3. Compare: examine for the purposes of noting similarities and differences. "Compare the child-rearing practices of Navajo indians with those of urban-dwelling Caucasians. "

4. Contrast: compare in order to show unlikeness or points of difference. Ex. "Contrast the theories of Hull and Tolman in how animals find their way around in space."

5. Criticize: make judgments as to merits and faults; criticism may approve or disapprove, or both! Ex. "Criticize Freud's theory of the unconscious mind."

6. Define: give the meaning of (a word, a phrase, a concept); determine or fix the boundaries or extent of. Ex. "Define the term 'superego.'"

7. Describe: give an account of; tell about; give a word picture of. Ex. Describe the sequence of events that takes place in a neuron during an action potential."

8. Discriminate between: describe in such a way as to show differences between. Ex. "Discriminate between casual and systematic observations."

9. Discuss: talk over; write about; consider or examine by argument or from various points of view; debate; present the different sides of. Ex. "Discuss the impact of learning theory on American Psychology."

10. Enumerate: mention or list separately; name one after another. Ex. "Enumerate the parts of a typical scientific research paper."

11. Evaluate: Give the good points and the bad ones; give an opinion regarding the value of; discuss the advantages and disadvantages. Ex. "Evaluate the effectiveness of drug therapy for children with attention deficit disorder."

12. Explain: make clear or plain; make known in detail; tell the meaning of; make clear the cause or reason of. Ex. "Explain how physical sex is determined and develops."

13. Illustrate: make clear or intelligible as by examples. Ex. "Illustrate the ways in which a person might increase effective bystander intervention."

14. Interpret: explain the meaning of; make plain; present your thinking about; present your thinking about. Ex. "Interpret Amir's behavior when he finds Hassan being brutally attacked."

15. Justify or Defend: show good reasons for; present your evidence; offer facts to support your position. Ex. "Defend your choice of 'the best' hypothesis for why animals sleep."

16. Prove: establish the truth or genuineness of something by giving factual evidence or logical reasons. Ex. "Prove the effectiveness of so-called 'talk therapies.'"

17. Summarize: state or express in concise form; give the main points briefly. Ex. "Summarize the kinds of brain waves observed in the different stages of sleep."

18. Trace: follow the course of; give a description of the progress of; ascertain by investigation. Ex. "Trace the development of the moral sense according to Kohlberg."