

The Art of SATergy: Excerpt from game theory book concerning multiple choice - apmee
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/the-art-of-satergy/

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tokenadult
An interesting application of game theory to standardized testing. For the
record, the single best approach to learning to score better on standardized
tests is to read avidly in the language of the test. Here's how I put it in a
FAQ message for high school students:

READ, READ

To learn how to score well on a standardized test reading section, the number
one piece of advice is READ, READ, READ, and READ. Read about what you like to
know more about. Read things that are fun for you. Find books and magazines
about interesting topics and read them. Turn off the TV and read. Put away the
video game controller and read. Read hard things, and read easy things. Read a
lot.

For years, I wondered why it came so readily to mind to write "READ, READ,
READ" in all capital letters like that when I give advice on this subject, as
I have frequent occasion to do. Recently, I reread the section "Suggestions
for Study" in the front matter of John DeFrancis's book Beginning Chinese
Reader, Part I, which I first used to learn Chinese back in 1975. In that
section of that book, I found this passage, "Fluency in reading can only be
achieved by extensive practice on all the interrelated aspects of the reading
process. To accomplish this we must READ, READ, READ" (capitalization as in
original).

Also for the record, the SSAT test used by some secondary schools is not
developed by as elaborate a process as the SAT test used for college
admission. There is a rather higher likelihood that the SSAT will have poorly
constructed questions. But for any entrance test, the first form of effective
preparation is to read widely and avidly.

