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SummaryThis study investigated students' decision‐making processes in a knowledge‐assessing multiple‐choice (MC) test using eye‐tracking methodology. More precisely, the gaze bias effect (more attention to more preferred options) and its relation to domain knowledge were the focus of the study. Eye movements of students with high (HPK) and low (LPK) prior domain knowledge were recorded while they solved 21 MC items. Afterwards, students rated every answer option according to their subjective preference. As expected, both HPK and LPK students showed a gaze bias towards subjectively preferred answer options, whereby HPK students spent more time on objectively correct answers. Furthermore, a fine‐grained time‐course analysis showed similar patterns of attention distribution over time for both HPK and LPK students, when focusing on subjective preference levels. Thus, these data offer a new perspective on knowledge‐related MC item solving and provide evidence for the generalizability of the gaze bias effect across decision tasks. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Test-wiseness: A neglected construct? Empirical findings on testing and trainability of test-wisenessAbstract Test-wiseness is regarded as an important factor influencing the outcome of multiple-choice tests. Findings from existing studies show that people with testwiseness knowledge get better results in a multiple-choice test than people without this knowledge. Further, it seems that test-wiseness can be trained. Although testwiseness is highly important for test performance, most of the existing theoretical assumptions and empirical findings on test-wiseness originate from Anglo-American regions. Few findings about test-wiseness exist in Germany. Against this background, a test in German was developed on the basis of an existing test in English to examine peoples' knowledge about test-wiseness. The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of thematic knowledge as well as the impact of a testwiseness training on the test result of the developed test. N = 252 students answered 24 multiple-choice questions which were developed to determine their knowledge about test-wiseness. A 2 (with vs. without thematic knowledge) x 2 (with vs. without a test-wiseness training) factorial experimental design was realized. The results show that persons with thematic knowledge answer more multiple-choice questions correctly than persons without this knowledge. At the same time the findings point out that test-wiseness can be trained. Overall, the findings indicate that a German version of a test was developed that matches the psychometric quality of existing international tests. Furthermore, they suggest that a stronger focus should be directed to the control of test-wiseness in multiple-choice tests in German-speaking regions in the future.