EPPP Myths versus Reality- A Response

A Critique of the ASPPB Article “EPPP Myth versus Reality”

Myth #1 of 8

“Sunlight is ... the best of disinfectants.”
Louis Dembitz Brandeis
Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court

The article "EPPP Myth versus Reality" on The Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards website addresses what the author calls “myths ...about the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology.” 

Louis Dembitz Brandeis famously wrote “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” Brandeis was an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court who strove during his career to increase transparency in the public sector. In the spirit of Brandeis, we’d like to critically explore some commonly made observations regarding the EPPP examination that the ASPPB dismisses as “myths.”

ASPPB Article Excerpt:

Myth #1: There are easy and hard versions ("the beast”) of the exam. It is unfair if you get the hard version. 

Reality: 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.

Critique

The ASPPB claims that “It is not unfair if you get a harder version because you don’t need to get as many answers right.” Does this make sense? Would you rather answer ten easy questions that you are able to answer because you know the answers, or one very difficult question that is beyond your ability to answer, and that is weighted the same as ten easy questions? We think that most EPPP exam takers would chose the ten easy questions. We don’t believe that it’s logical to equate a lesser number of difficult questions with a larger number of easy questions.

What of the mental cost of trying to answer difficult questions versus easy questions? Difficult questions are more intellectually and psychologically taxing to answer. Difficult questions are likely to leave the examinee more drained of energy. Furthermore, difficult questions may have a negative effect on the test taker's levels of anxiety, confidence, and performance. These effects of difficult questions may then negatively impact the examinee's ability to answer easier questions within the test. It's not difficult to imagine how the unfortunate recipient of "The Beast" version of the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology gets shaken by difficult questions, tires, loses confidence, panics and then a downward spiral ensues in which even "easy questions" and questions of average difficulty are answered incorrectly. Contrast this unfortunate's plight with the examinee who receives a version of the test which consists of questions of easy or average difficulty. Their confidence, energy, and performance is likely to soar, or at least remain stable, as they progress through the questions.

Do you agree? We want to know! Post your comments below.

Next Post: Myth #2 of 8: A majority of people fail the exam. The passing rate is kept artificially low in order to control access to the profession.

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*http://www.asppb.net/?page=MythsvsReality, recovered 10-21-2014