Why You Should Always Choose Option B for Unanswered Questions: A Cheating Strategy?

When it comes to multiple choice tests, it's always encouraged to choose option B if you have no clue about the answer. In this article, we will explore the reasons behind this advice and some additional strategies to improve your guessing odds.

The Idea That Choosing Option B Is Encouraged

The idea that you should choose option B as your 'no clue' (IDK) choice has been a common recommendation in many circles, especially among students. This strategy is based on a few key principles:

Distribution of Answers

In some tests, particularly those designed with a balanced set of answers, the correct answers may be evenly distributed among all options. For example, if there are four answer options (A, B, C, D), the correct answer might appear with equal frequency in each category. Some might argue that B is chosen more often when there is no other strategy to follow.

Psychological Bias

Another reason for this advice is the psychological bias. Some test-takers might feel that certain letters appear more often and therefore they are more likely to be correct. This bias can lead to an inordinate number of B choices when students are unsure about the answer.

Test Design

In certain tests, if the questions are designed with a random distribution of correct answers, some students might notice that the correct answers are not as evenly distributed as they initially assumed. This observation can prompt students to choose B more often when they have no other choice.

Confirmation Bias

Confirmation bias plays a significant role here. If a student has heard this advice and then finds that their B choices are correct more often than expected, they are likely to continue this habit. This bias can make the advice seem more effective than it actually is.

No Better Option

When genuinely unsure about an answer, students might gravitate toward a familiar or commonly used option. Choosing B can be one such familiar option, and this is why it becomes a default choice in many cases.

Ultimately, while picking B may seem like the right strategy, it is important to recognize that there is no letter choice which is correct more than the others. Often, standardized tests will balance the number of each letter occurrences. As one piece of advice goes, you should choose a letter choice as your 'idk' choice to use in every case when you have no clue.

A Strategy to Improve Your Odds: The Clock Method

There is however a way to improve your odds beyond just choosing B randomly. By leveraging the second hand of a clock, you can increase your chances of guessing correctly.

Wearing a Watch or Clock in the Room

If you don't know the answer at all with five possible answers, look at the watch or clock. If the second hand is in the first 12 seconds, guess "A". If it's in the second 12 seconds, guess "B". This continues with "C" and "D" in the next 12 seconds each. The same principle can be applied with four answer categories, dividing the seconds into 15-second increments.

If you can narrow it down to three possible answers, you can use the first 20 seconds, 40 seconds, and 60 seconds for "A", "B", and "C", respectively. For two possible answers, you can use the first 30 seconds and the next 30 seconds for each option.

This strategy allows you to eliminate wrong answers and increases your chances of guessing right. You cannot be lured into a wrong answer, and you avoid guessing a pattern that might be completely off. The randomness of the clock face ensures that this method remains unpredictable and effective.

Conclusion

While choosing B is a common strategy, the clock method provides a more structured and empirical approach to making educated guesses. By combining these two strategies, you can significantly improve your performance on multiple choice tests, even when you are unsure about the answer. However, it's important to remember that the best preparation for any test is through thorough study and practice, so always prioritize your studies and only use these strategies as a last resort.