EFFECT OF INCREASED TEST-TAKING TIME ON TEST SCORES BY ETHNIC GROUP, YEARS OUT OF SCHOOL, AND SEX

This study investigates the effects of increasing the test time to reduce the speededness of the verbal and quantitative experimental sections of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Aptitude Test. In December 1976, at approximately 550 domestic test centers, 20- and 30-minute versions of a verbal experimental test and of a quantitative experimental test were administered with the operational test. The effects of testing time on scores for minority-group versus majority-group examinees, on male versus female examinees, and on examinees by years elapsed since they received the baccalaureate degree are investigated. Although the 20-minute experimental tests are generally more speeded than the 30-minute tests, the ten additional minutes resulted in a small score gain for all groups, and differential score gains were not found between the subgroups. On the basis of the results of this study, the extension of testing time for the GRE Aptitude Test for the purpose of reducing intergroup differences is not indicated.