A microanalysis of participant behavior in familiar and unfamiliar test conditions.

A microanalysis was conducted of the behaviors of examiners and handicapped children during videotaped testing sessions in which handicapped students performed better with familiar than with unfamiliar examiners. The children spoke significantly more often and longer when tested by familiar examiners. Familiar examiners (a) exercised more frequent and longer intervals of silence than unfamiliar examiners, (b) often appeared to use eye contact with examinees as a cue in deciding when to speak whereas unfamiliar examiners rarely utilized this cue, (c) employed largely directive language in contrast to unfamiliar examiners' speech that more frequently was participatory in natures and (d) spoke for a shorter duration than unfamiliar examiners. These differences between familiar and unfamiliar examiners' behavior provide clues for understanding why differential test performance occurred. Implications for testing handicapped children are discussed.