The effect of ’None of the Above’ on multiple choice questions in a first year classroom

A variety of ’best practice’ guides to multiple choice question writing exist in the literature, each commonly containing a set of specific recommendations. One such recommendation entails the use of ’none of the above’ (NOTA), with some authors discouraging and others advocating its use on multiple choice tests. Empirical research on the use of NOTA has produced mixed results regarding its effects on a question’s difficulty and ability to discriminate between high-performing and low-performing students. Many of these empirical studies are conducted in the laboratory, or in relatively small classrooms. In the current study, we assess the effect of NOTA on question difficulty and discrimination in a large Introductory Psychology classroom. We find that NOTA increases question difficulty, but only when it is used as the correct response to the question. Moreover, we find no effect of NOTA on a question’s discrimination ability. These findings serve to clarify the effect of NOTA on multiple choice questions in true classroom environments.