EPPP Miss / New strategy

Therapulse.ai - The AI Scribe for Mental Health
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
P

Psych20122

Full Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2022
Messages
23
Reaction score
9
So I recently took the EPPP after studying sporadically for about a year (much more intensely the last 2-3 weeks) but failed with a 427 (69 scaled score). I was a bit surprised because I was getting about 62-68% of practice exam questions correct on AATBS. After reading that people on this forum were in that range and then blowing the actual test out of the park, I went for it but fell short. I suspected that I wouldn’t pass midway through the test because I was pressed for time and guessing too many questions (I saw way more statistics/test construction questions than I anticipated).

Anyway, I’ve been trying to reflect on that score to figure out what went wrong in my studying and how much I fell short by. Did I fail by 10 questions? 20 questions? 30 questions?

I think my biggest mistake was that while I was answering practice questions during the last week or so, I never completed a full blown timed practice test. I probably took about 3 of the study mode practice tests in AATBS and mostly checked my accuracy after each item. Most of my studying involved reading through the AATBS books and trying to memorize as much as I could.

I did recall a few questions on the exam that looked familiar. Do you think just drilling through as many full practice tests for the next few weeks as possible would boost my performance much? I took one yesterday for the first time since failing (I’ve been reviewing the books again in a more detailed manner) for the last 2 weeks after failing). On the full blown practice exam in test mode I scored a 68% and had about sn hour to spare.

Advice appreciated!
Members don't see this ad.
 
The test scaling between forms makes it difficult to say exactly how many items you missed the finish line by (e.g., they may not be weighed equally), ASPPB doesn't give us that level of insider knowledge. But I think you already accurately diagnosed the problem: I think just getting comfortable with taking the test repeatedly is more important than a rote memorization of the content, especially since the content may vary dramatically from what you studied come test day. I used AR almost exclusively and what was nice about it is that it would occasionally throw me questions that I hadn't ever seen before in the study materials. Idk, but I'll bet the others are similar.
 
I think you’re on the right track. Tons of content that you can try to memorize will never appear on your test version. But getting familiar with the process will apply to each test.

In particular, quickly diagnosing questions that you can confidently answer without needing to double check, ones that you have a strong hunch but would like to quickly revisit if possible, questions where you don’t have an educated guess yet but perhaps could with some more time and deduction, and items where no amount of time will improve blind 1/4 or 1/3 guessing can help you as you go through timed practice tests and figure out how to allot your time and utilize the EPPP item marking feature effectively.

Good luck!
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Practice tests are great. I think I went through at least 5-10 of them (can't remember exactly). Otherwise, I took a similar approach to you and just read through the books about 3-4 times. Focusing on your weak areas matters. For me that was a split between some developmental/lifespan stuff, some of the biological basis stuff (e.g., I remember a bizarre amount of material dedicated to eye anatomy) and some of the weird obscure therapies you have to learn about that like 10 people actually used in clinical practice 50 years ago in Japan and no one has published about since like 1980. Stats was always a strength so I barely studied for that at all. For you, the opposite pattern may be true so just put in the work where you need it. Also make sure you are studying the way that "works" for you. If you made it that far, chances are you found a way to study that works for you at some point during your education. I see a lot of people fall into traps of studying how they "should" based on what their friends or some paid program tells them to do for the EPPP. Some folks really pushed hard to try and get me to use the audio. I tried it, realized I didn't like it and ignored them completely.

I will say I've noticed a weird correlation here with the folks who study hard for ages being the ones who struggle while those who take it easy and cram do fine. I didn't really start studying until 2 months before the exam and only seriously studied for 1 month before the exam (and even that was low-key evening/weekend, its not like I made a job of it). Correlation != causation so it could be folks who struggle with test-taking in general are aware of that and study much harder. However, test anxiety could play a role and I'm not ruling out the possibility this is an exam where - for whatever reason - cramming works better. Take that into consideration, especially if you wound up feeling rushed at some point during the test.
 
I focused a lot on taking timed practice tests especially toward the end of my studying. At the beginning, I studied material especially on areas I had less familiarity and/or recollection. I barely studied areas I already was very familiar because there’s so much material I felt it was a waste of time to review areas I already understood well. Time was better spent on practice tests and figuring out the actual strategy of taking the test.
 
Hello- I recently took the EPPP and passed after using Academic Review and Psychprep audio files. I also shared resources/got used materials. I studied for four months total but for the first few months I just did a practice test and a couple of hours of audio files a week. I then studied a good deal during the five weeks leading up to my test.

Although the study volumes and flash cards were helpful, there was information that I had not seen before on the actual exam. That is why I feel like it was the full practice tests (mostly AR and one psychprep) I did that were the most helpful (13 total). I am not a good test taker so I took a test every week (test mode) but find what works for you. After each exam, I would review it to see how accurate I was at guessing my own performance (example: were there questions I did not flag and thought I got right but really got wrong?). I paid close attention to the types of questions I tended to miss. It also allowed me to learn how to mange time and stay calm when I needed to make an educated guess. My practice scores were in the mid 80's the month before my exam, but practice effects played a role in this for sure. I took the PEPPPO simply to get familiar with the actual testing method about a week before the test. I do not recommend taking both of those unless you really feel like you need to...one was enough. Good luck!
 
The strategy that worked well for me I can't imagine wouldn't work well today - get some quality test prep books, and then generate over time as many flash cards as you possibly can from the material, either by copying practice test questions from the book or creating questions directly out of test prep material. Then just carry the cards around and drill yourself on them over and over again.
 
Agreed with what folks have suggested, getting prep books/access to practice tests is a huge part of this - can't imagine passing without them. Even with all that, what got me over the hump was working with an EPPP tutor, really helped to break down concepts and move beyond just memorizing material and instead understanding the concepts more fully. Personally owe a lot to my tutor for building my confidence back up after failing the exam in the past and helping me with test taking strategy.
 
I was one of those people who scored between 48 (first exam) and 68 on all practice exams, and then did well (640) on the real thing. I also took 10 practice exams, only 3 of which were in "exam mode." I only did two retakes (so I guess I took 12 tests total) but never saw the point of redoing it more than that because of course your score will jump!

I also took advantage of all the free trial periods of the many differnt test prep programs, and I found AATBS to the closest to the real thing. I felt like I was failing the whole time, and I would say it's half knowing content, half using critical thinking skills to knock out answer choices. For example, if two answer choices are essentially the same thing, or two things that are synonyms for the same concept, they cannot both be correct, so I crossed those out.

Another example of a strategy I used on a question, (btw this was not the actual question. I am changing the content of the question, but the concept is still the same). Like you, stats/test construction felt like a different language. one question asked about item discrimination. Two of the choices were like 2.8 and 3. Now I did not remember how to calculate any of that, but I remembered item discrimination index was between -1 to +1. So there is no way it was those two choices. This left me with only two choices to pick from.

Another strategy is to see what is the question ACTUALLY ASKING. not what you think it's asking at first glance. Lastly, even if you have never seen or read about a particular concept, use what you DO know to knock out answers. For example, basal ganglia has to do with volunatary movement. if a question asks about motor disorders, a safe bet is that the basil ganglia or parts of it, is the right answer (vs something like the amygdala or hippocampus).

Hope this helps! I can't say I know what I got right/wrong, but these were all strategies I actively used during the test and during the AATBS exams. Also, I used prepjet study materials but I bought AATBS tests. So even with me using a whole different study program, I got 64 and 68 on the AATBS exams using the above strategies, and then enough right answers to pass the real thing.
 
Psych20122 said:
So I recently took the EPPP after studying sporadically for about a year (much more intensely the last 2-3 weeks) but failed with a 427 (69 scaled score). I was a bit surprised because I was getting about 62-68% of practice exam questions correct on AATBS. After reading that people on this forum were in that range and then blowing the actual test out of the park, I went for it but fell short. I suspected that I wouldn’t pass midway through the test because I was pressed for time and guessing too many questions (I saw way more statistics/test construction questions than I anticipated).

Anyway, I’ve been trying to reflect on that score to figure out what went wrong in my studying and how much I fell short by. Did I fail by 10 questions? 20 questions? 30 questions?

I think my biggest mistake was that while I was answering practice questions during the last week or so, I never completed a full blown timed practice test. I probably took about 3 of the study mode practice tests in AATBS and mostly checked my accuracy after each item. Most of my studying involved reading through the AATBS books and trying to memorize as much as I could.

I did recall a few questions on the exam that looked familiar. Do you think just drilling through as many full practice tests for the next few weeks as possible would boost my performance much? I took one yesterday for the first time since failing (I’ve been reviewing the books again in a more detailed manner) for the last 2 weeks after failing). On the full blown practice exam in test mode I scored a 68% and had about sn hour to spare.

Advice appreciated!
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about the recent test results. It's good that you are seeking consultation from peers to get varied opinions and practices. My $.02 based on what you disclosed - I wouldn't have tried to memorize the book(s). I actually took tons of practice quizzes and tests, including taking both versions of the PEPPPO (and passed them). My scores on my practice quizzes and tests were terrible, but I studied diligently from August 1st to November 11th. My scores got to the 68/70 range right before I sat for the EPPP. Didn't study on weekends, would listen to audio files on my drive to work every morning, and when I got home, spent about 1.5 hours taking quizzes, then brushed up on some stuff from the digital books as needed, but that was in the minority of times. You shouldn't aim to study for the EPPP with the intent on trying to re-learn 5+ years of grad school. I would say it was 60% test-taking strategy and 40% of actual psychology knowledge that allowed me to pass. That's actually what I anticipated and that shaped how I approached my studying, and it paid off.
 
The EPPP is designed to be exceedingly difficult to study for, with the idea being that if you didn't learn the material in grad school, you should not be able to pass with even a year or two of studying items - and you cannot, generally speaking. To that end, items are never the same on two separate tests, items are weighted differently, and that weighting has to do mostly with the difficulty of the item as measured by the pass-fail rating kept for each item over multiple tests. There is also an extremely large pool of items for test constructors to choose from. Research items on the test are simply items on which pass-fail data is being actively collected before the item score is actually counted (if it ever is) on future tests. Some items will never be used.

Finally - and this is admittedly controversial - a given test (or series of tests) can be tailored to produce a desired pass-fail rate using item selection based on prior item pass-fail rates. This is done in many places to control the number of people receiving licenses based on economic and political reasons, and this is not widely admitted for obvious reasons.

We are, after all, Psychologists, and we know how to build tests that produce the desired results, fair or not.
 
Last edited:
msc545 said:
The EPPP is designed to be exceedingly difficult to study for, with the idea being that if you didn't learn the material in grad school, you should not be able to pass with even a year or two of studying items - and you cannot, generally speaking. To that end, items are never the same on two separate tests, items are weighted differently, and that weighting has to do mostly with the difficulty of the item as measured by the pass-fail rating kept for each item over multiple tests. There is also an extremely large pool of items for test constructors to choose from. Research items on the test are simply items on which pass-fail data is being actively collected before the item score is actually counted (if it ever is) on future tests. Some items will never be used.

Finally - and this is admittedly controversial - a given test (or series of tests) can be tailored to produce a desired pass-fail rate using item selection based on prior item pass-fail rates. This is done in many places to control the number of people receiving licenses based on economic and political reasons, and this is not widely admitted for obvious reasons.

We are, after all, Psychologists, and we know how to build tests that produce the desired results, fair or not.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about this piece. Most any test can be passed by someone of certain intelligence with the right materials. Give me some study materials and about 6 months and I'll give you some passing Step scores. Also, not sure about the exceedingly difficult from a general stance. You have many programs sitting at 100% or nearly 100 pass rates over periods of time, at least when ASPPB was providing the 10-year aggregate data. I don't think it's as much a function of the test being "exceedingly difficult" as it is a fairly wide range of program quality, with the poorest quality programs churning out the highest quantity of unprepared applicants.
 
WisNeuro said:
I'm not sure about this piece. Most any test can be passed by someone of certain intelligence with the right materials. Give me some study materials and about 6 months and I'll give you some passing Step scores. Also, not sure about the exceedingly difficult from a general stance. You have many programs sitting at 100% or nearly 100 pass rates over periods of time, at least when ASPPB was providing the 10-year aggregate data. I don't think it's as much a function of the test being "exceedingly difficult" as it is a fairly wide range of program quality, with the poorest quality programs churning out the highest quantity of unprepared applicants.
Click to expand...
Seconding this.. My PhD is in School Psychology - probably the most narrow training that one can get licensed for. Some people can just raw dog the EPPP by not paying for something like AATBS. I am not one of those people and it looks like you are not either. IMHO - I think a lot of the stuff covered in EPPP is stuff you'll learn just for the test and then promptly forget. I viewed studying for the EPPP as a grand tour of psychology though.

So here is unasked for prescribed advice for anyone who has failed the test:
  1. Pay for AATBS - do what they say.
  2. You are going to download ANKI and either make your own set, or find good ones that others have used. It uses spaced repetition and an algorithm to make sure you're not wasting your time on things you know. There is a reason the med students use this all the time - put it on your phone - delete all fun things.
  3. Study every day from 7am to 8am. Get to you postdoc or office before everyone else. Discipline is key.
  4. On the weekends take practice tests under similar conditions to test day. That means - take each practice test all the way through.
  5. Immediately after each practice test figure out why you missed that problem.
  6. Develop your test wiseness. For instance, you only focus on one question at a time during testing because like 85% of EPPP is just being able to look critically at each question.
    1. If the answer isn't obvious to you, eliminate the two obvious wrong answers - the two answers that are clearly not a fit - now you're 50/50 for getting it correct.
    2. Next, identify which one of the remaining test is the attractive decoy item. One thing that helps is trying to come up with a question that fits each answer (Reverse engineering).
    3. Make your best guess.
    4. See why you dun goof'd if you missed it.
    5. See why you got it right if you didn't.
  7. Do at least 30 min of ANKI after work/during any down time.
  8. Rinse and repeat until you're killing practice tests.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
borne_before said:
Seconding this.. My PhD is in School Psychology - probably the most narrow training that one can get licensed for.
Click to expand...
Also a school psych Ph.D.- my experience was that I was just more prepared for stuff that other training programs were less prepared for- mainly stats/research, testing/assessment, developmental stages, etc. I do not perceive that I was more behind than others who I'm on postdoc w/ now and the interns at this site who are mostly clinical PsyD's. I suppose maybe clinical Ph.D.'s would be different. That being said, I do agree broadly w/ your prescribed method. I did psychprep- but similar concept- pay for a program & do what the program says.
 
WisNeuro said:
I'm not sure about this piece. Most any test can be passed by someone of certain intelligence with the right materials. Give me some study materials and about 6 months and I'll give you some passing Step scores. Also, not sure about the exceedingly difficult from a general stance. You have many programs sitting at 100% or nearly 100 pass rates over periods of time, at least when ASPPB was providing the 10-year aggregate data. I don't think it's as much a function of the test being "exceedingly difficult" as it is a fairly wide range of program quality, with the poorest quality programs churning out the highest quantity of unprepared applicants.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I had a professor who said the same thing. I actually only studied for 3 months 😛
 
WisNeuro said:
I'm not sure about this piece. Most any test can be passed by someone of certain intelligence with the right materials. Give me some study materials and about 6 months and I'll give you some passing Step scores. Also, not sure about the exceedingly difficult from a general stance. You have many programs sitting at 100% or nearly 100 pass rates over periods of time, at least when ASPPB was providing the 10-year aggregate data. I don't think it's as much a function of the test being "exceedingly difficult" as it is a fairly wide range of program quality, with the poorest quality programs churning out the highest quantity of unprepared applicants.
Click to expand...
Some applicants learn more in some grad schools than others.
 
borne_before said:
Seconding this.. My PhD is in School Psychology - probably the most narrow training that one can get licensed for. Some people can just raw dog the EPPP by not paying for something like AATBS. I am not one of those people and it looks like you are not either. IMHO - I think a lot of the stuff covered in EPPP is stuff you'll learn just for the test and then promptly forget. I viewed studying for the EPPP as a grand tour of psychology though.

So here is unasked for prescribed advice for anyone who has failed the test:
  1. Pay for AATBS - do what they say.
  2. You are going to download ANKI and either make your own set, or find good ones that others have used. It uses spaced repetition and an algorithm to make sure you're not wasting your time on things you know. There is a reason the med students use this all the time - put it on your phone - delete all fun things.
  3. Study every day from 7am to 8am. Get to you postdoc or office before everyone else. Discipline is key.
  4. On the weekends take practice tests under similar conditions to test day. That means - take each practice test all the way through.
  5. Immediately after each practice test figure out why you missed that problem.
  6. Develop your test wiseness. For instance, you only focus on one question at a time during testing because like 85% of EPPP is just being able to look critically at each question.
    1. If the answer isn't obvious to you, eliminate the two obvious wrong answers - the two answers that are clearly not a fit - now you're 50/50 for getting it correct.
    2. Next, identify which one of the remaining test is the attractive decoy item. One thing that helps is trying to come up with a question that fits each answer (Reverse engineering).
    3. Make your best guess.
    4. See why you dun goof'd if you missed it.
    5. See why you got it right if you didn't.
  7. Do at least 30 min of ANKI after work/during any down time.
  8. Rinse and repeat until you're killing practice tests.
Click to expand...
You can easily do all this and still not pass.
 
I'm with Wis on this. I'm pretty darn certain with the study materials (and actual motivation, which I was certainly lacking then) I could have passed the EPPP in 9th grade with no formal training in psychology. It admittedly would have been a lot tougher and I'm sure I'd have passed by a much narrower margin, particularly in certain topics I'd spent so much time on they were basically second nature. However, the overall exam diverged dramatically from what we covered in grad school. Whole sections were on things that literally never came up at any point in my entire graduate training - not in research, not in clinical work and not in the classroom. Its not even like I really learned test-taking skills or something...I had maybe a handful of MC exams my entire grad school career?
 
Ollie123 said:
I'm with Wis on this. I'm pretty darn certain with the study materials (and actual motivation, which I was certainly lacking then) I could have passed the EPPP in 9th grade with no formal training in psychology. It admittedly would have been a lot tougher and I'm sure I'd have passed by a much narrower margin, particularly in certain topics I'd spent so much time on they were basically second nature. However, the overall exam diverged dramatically from what we covered in grad school. Whole sections were on things that literally never came up at any point in my entire graduate training - not in research, not in clinical work and not in the classroom. Its not even like I really learned test-taking skills or something...I had maybe a handful of MC exams my entire grad school career?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I can't really remember many, besides some foundational neuroscience courses and some early stats stuff. Majority was essay stuff and longer papers.
 
WisNeuro said:
I put a few weeks in, my wife was studying for step 2 at the time and was appalled at my study routine.
Click to expand...

My spouse is a pharmacist, and he was super committed and diligent in his approach to studying for his licensing exam compared to me.
 
I love all the anecdotal "evidence" that is supposed to prove me wrong here.
 
Ollie123 said:
I'm with Wis on this. I'm pretty darn certain with the study materials (and actual motivation, which I was certainly lacking then) I could have passed the EPPP in 9th grade with no formal training in psychology. It admittedly would have been a lot tougher and I'm sure I'd have passed by a much narrower margin, particularly in certain topics I'd spent so much time on they were basically second nature. However, the overall exam diverged dramatically from what we covered in grad school. Whole sections were on things that literally never came up at any point in my entire graduate training - not in research, not in clinical work and not in the classroom. Its not even like I really learned test-taking skills or something...I had maybe a handful of MC exams my entire grad school career?
Click to expand...
9th grade, huh? I guess that means you could have gotten the doctorate in 10th grade?
 
msc545 said:
9th grade, huh? I guess that means you could have gotten the doctorate in 10th grade?
Click to expand...

Passing the EPPP and doing the requisite work to finish a thesis and dissertation are very different animals, not even remotely comparable. I completely agree, I could have passed the EPPP in high school with the right materials. Woudl have taken me a bit longer to do the doctorate considering the stats and coding that was necessary.

Also, this isn't anecdotal evidence that people are pointing to, 87% pass on the first time of overall test takers. If you confine that number to just the clinical PhD crowd, the figure is in the 90s.
 
The turn this thread is taking seems to be a rehashing of the larger EPPP thread.
 
msc545 said:
9th grade, huh? I guess that means you could have gotten the doctorate in 10th grade?
Click to expand...
Absolutely not. That's my whole point - the exam had little to do with things learned in grad school, just involved rote memorization from books and "How do I narrow this down" test-taking skills that if anything were probably more refined back in HS. It was annoying to prepare for and did take some prep work just because of the sheer volume of information, but ultimately 100x easier than anything from grad school.

Also - if we're discussing anecdotes, weren't you the one who basically implied that ASPPB is working in cahoots with individual state boards and the testing companies to modulate pass rates for economic/political reasons? This seems a pretty vast conspiracy to pull off for my last state board, who as of 2017 was still requiring paper applications be mailed to their tiny strip-mall office in bumble****-nowhere because apparently no one knew how to update their website to accept PDF uploads.
 
Last edited:
I think it’s important to remind folks that there are harder and easier versions floating around of the EPPP, so experiences vary widely not just due to individual differences and aptitudes. Some folks like to make it sound like a cakewalk, but not all versions will feel like that.
 
foreverbull said:
I think it’s important to remind folks that there are harder and easier versions floating around of the EPPP, so experiences vary widely not just due to individual differences and aptitudes. Some folks like to make it sound like a cakewalk, but not all versions will feel like that.
Click to expand...

Different versions but scaled to same difficulty.
 
Ollie123 said:
Absolutely not. That's my whole point - the exam had little to do with things learned in grad school, just involved rote memorization from books and "How do I narrow this down" test-taking skills that if anything were probably more refined back in HS. It was annoying to prepare for and did take some prep work just because of the sheer volume of information, but ultimately 100x easier than anything from grad school.

Also - if we're discussing anecdotes, weren't you the one who basically implied that ASPPB is working in cahoots with individual state boards and the testing companies to modulate pass rates for economic/political reasons? This seems a pretty vast conspiracy to pull off for my last state board, who as of 2017 was still requiring paper applications be mailed to their tiny strip-mall office in bumble****-nowhere because apparently no one knew how to update their website to accept PDF uploads.
Click to expand...
As an aside (although this thread has really derailed from the original topic anyways) I was looking at applying to a different state and was shocked that they also required a paper application and to be mailed a check or money order in the year of our lord 2022. I am not entirely comfortable mailing such a large amount of money but it is what it is.
 
bluecolourskies said:
As an aside (although this thread has really derailed from the original topic anyways) I was looking at applying to a different state and was shocked that they also required a paper application and to be mailed a check or money order in the year of our lord 2022. I am not entirely comfortable mailing such a large amount of money but it is what it is.
Click to expand...

Just wait til you go get a money order for a home down payment. Nothing like walking around with a check for a quarter million dollars.

In hindsight,I believe for the second buy, we actually just wired the money.
 
Last edited:
Ollie123 said:
Absolutely not. That's my whole point - the exam had little to do with things learned in grad school, just involved rote memorization from books and "How do I narrow this down" test-taking skills that if anything were probably more refined back in HS. It was annoying to prepare for and did take some prep work just because of the sheer volume of information, but ultimately 100x easier than anything from grad school.

Also - if we're discussing anecdotes, weren't you the one who basically implied that ASPPB is working in cahoots with individual state boards and the testing companies to modulate pass rates for economic/political reasons? This seems a pretty vast conspiracy to pull off for my last state board, who as of 2017 was still requiring paper applications be mailed to their tiny strip-mall office in bumble****-nowhere because apparently no one knew how to update their website to accept PDF uploads.
Click to expand...
Yes, I am the person who said that.
 
WisNeuro said:
Different versions but scaled to same difficulty.
Click to expand...
If you mean more difficult versions exist, but lower scores are required to pass it, then yes. But the difficulty in test items can vary by version.
 
foreverbull said:
If you mean more difficult versions exist, but lower scores are required to pass it, then yes. But the difficulty in test items can vary by version.
Click to expand...

More of a function of the test-taker (depth of knowledge in different subjects) than the test, as the items are selected to have generally equivalent difficulty ratings.
 
WisNeuro said:
More of a function of the test-taker (depth of knowledge in different subjects) than the test, as the items are selected to have generally equivalent difficulty ratings.
Click to expand...
Per ASPPB:

"Forms of the EPPP do vary in difficulty. The passing score of each version is equated so that the level of knowledge being tested is consistent. Practically speaking, this means that the "harder” forms require fewer correct answers to pass and "easy” forms require more. It is not unfair if you get a harder version because you don’t need to get as many answers right."

That sounds to me like the items are harder in the harder versions, it's just scaled easier.
 
foreverbull said:
Per ASPPB:

"Forms of the EPPP do vary in difficulty. The passing score of each version is equated so that the level of knowledge being tested is consistent. Practically speaking, this means that the "harder” forms require fewer correct answers to pass and "easy” forms require more. It is not unfair if you get a harder version because you don’t need to get as many answers right."

That sounds to me like the items are harder in the harder versions, it's just scaled easier.
Click to expand...

We had an presentation and roundtable with the ASPPB people last year in an executive meeting. This was actually brought up. We were told, that, generally speaking, these were very minor differences, generally constituting ~5 questions between any given tests. So, there is scaling going on, but it's pretty minimal.
 
WisNeuro said:
We had an presentation and roundtable with the ASPPB people last year in an executive meeting. This was actually brought up. We were told, that, generally speaking, these were very minor differences, generally constituting ~5 questions between any given tests. So, there is scaling going on, but it's pretty minimal.
Click to expand...
Wow, that is quite negligible. I’m surprised they would consider that enough to mention different difficulties of forms on their website. Based on what they mention, I would expect it to be a difference of several items, like 50 or more. Odd.
 
foreverbull said:
Wow, that is quite negligible. I’m surprised they would consider that enough to mention different difficulties of forms on their website. Based on what they mention, I would expect it to be a difference of several items, like 50 or more. Odd.
Click to expand...

That's over a quarter of the test, that'd be a crazy amount of variance. Especially when you have a huge databank of items with pretty good discrimininability analysis. I'm sure some sessions go beyond the 5 mark here and there, but I'd be surprised at two tests that could be scaled the same with a difference in right answers being 50+ out of 175 items.
 
WisNeuro said:
Everyone knows that ASPPB = Lizard People, @Ollie123
Click to expand...
Yes, I am very certain that they are all stellar human beings who could not possibly EVER bow to political or economic pressures - that could never happen. Don't be naive.
 
msc545 said:
Yes, I am very certain that they are all stellar human beings who could not possibly EVER bow to political or economic pressures - that could never happen. Don't be naive.
Click to expand...

How many QAnon chat rooms do you belong to? Is ASPPB part of the worldwide pedophile cabal? How do I get me some of that sweet Illuminati power?
 
WisNeuro said:
How many QAnon chat rooms do you belong to? Is ASPPB part of the worldwide pedophile cabal? How do I get me some of that sweet Illuminati power?
Click to expand...
I understand you disagree with me. However, this response by you is quite immature and childish.
 
msc545 said:
I understand you disagree with me. However, this response by you is quite immature and childish.
Click to expand...

Really? And what do we call the flop sweat, drunken Rudy Giuliani act you're throwing out? If you have any evidence for your paranoid conspiracy theory, have at it. If you want to act with a reasonable level of decorum and disagree with ASPPB policy, you're free to angel for a seat on the elected board, or as one of the many liaisons through CUDCP or APA.
 
WisNeuro said:
Really? And what do we call the flop sweat, drunken Rudy Giuliani act you're throwing out? If you have any evidence for your paranoid conspiracy theory, have at it. If you want to act with a reasonable level of decorum and disagree with ASPPB policy, you're free to angel for a seat on the elected board, or as one of the many liaisons through CUDCP or APA.
Click to expand...
I merely posted things you disagree with, and this is your response? You really need to stop getting so agitated.
 
WisNeuro said:
I always find that the best way to respond to absurdity, it with absurdity 🙂
Click to expand...
Also, perhaps work on your grammar since it makes you sound still agitated.
 
msc545 said:
The EPPP is designed to be exceedingly difficult to study for, with the idea being that if you didn't learn the material in grad school, you should not be able to pass with even a year or two of studying items - and you cannot, generally speaking. To that end, items are never the same on two separate tests, items are weighted differently, and that weighting has to do mostly with the difficulty of the item as measured by the pass-fail rating kept for each item over multiple tests. There is also an extremely large pool of items for test constructors to choose from. Research items on the test are simply items on which pass-fail data is being actively collected before the item score is actually counted (if it ever is) on future tests. Some items will never be used.

Finally - and this is admittedly controversial - a given test (or series of tests) can be tailored to produce a desired pass-fail rate using item selection based on prior item pass-fail rates. This is done in many places to control the number of people receiving licenses based on economic and political reasons, and this is not widely admitted for obvious reasons.

We are, after all, Psychologists, and we know how to build tests that produce the desired results, fair or not.
Click to expand...
Why would politicians want to control amount of licenses being given out? Seems to me that they are more motivated to flood the market. I also didnt think it was that tied to grad school education as much as intro to psych type stuff. I heard someone say that teaching an intro to psych class is great preparation. I was teaching that class at that time and found that it was helpful.

I am also good at taking multiple choice tests in general and always have been. Aced this one. Part of the reason I am good at these tests has to do with good intuitive abilities (makes for better guessing) coupled with strong verbal skills and ability to retain and recall a lot of information. I don’t know if these skills are necessary to be a good psychologist, but since I have them, I use them. For the poster, I am not sure if the intuitive part can be shifted much, but some strategies like go with your first choice unless you are certain rely on intuitive ability. Adding more information and being able to retrieve it can be improved and that is where multiple study strategies come into play.

i used every modality of information processing as part of my strategy and explaining things to people is one of the best ways of me doing this so I annoyed my wife with explanations of industrial organizational psychology and other aspects of the field that I wasn’t actively boring my intro to psych students with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

N
Newest EPPP test materials a must?
Replies
6
Views
2K
PsyDuck90
P
Q
EPPP
Replies
2
Views
1K
PSYD2024
P
C
eppp question
Replies
9
Views
2K
WisNeuro
WisNeuro
N
EPPP purgatory
Replies
11
Views
2K
MCParent
MCParent
D
EPPP fail
Replies
23
Views
5K
BendDontBreak
B
Top