Tuesday, October 30, 2012

'Match the List' type questions

The difficulty level of questions of this ilk is contingent upon the manner in which options are furnished. The focus on the options, therefore, would help in pointing out the correct choice.

Let's go through an easy example.
Match List 1 (Brain Part) with List 2 (Function):
List 1 (Brain Part)                   List 2 (Function)
(a)   Medulla                             (1) For emotion and maintaining homeostasis
(b)   Thalamus                          (2) Responsible for respiration and postural reflexes
(c)    Cerebellum                       (3) Relay station for incoming sensory information
(d)   Hypothalamus                   (4) Is concerned with motor coordination
Codes
            a          b          c          d
A          1          3          2          4
B          2          3          4          1
C          3          2          1          4
D          4          1          3          2
If you know the function only of medulla or cerebellum or hypothalamus, you can easily answer (B) this question.
Here is a difficult one.
Match List 1 (Description) with List 2 (Theories):
List 1 (Description)                                                                            List 2 (Theories)
(a)   Each person has a unique construct                                             (1) Erikson
system to interpret experience                                                                                 
(b)   All  humans have two broad categories                                       (2) Kelly
of motives, deficit and growth motives                                                                     
(c)    Psychological functioning is best understood                               (3) Bandura
in terms of continuous reciprocal interplay among
behavioural, cognitive and environmental influences                                              
(d)   Ego development proceeds through                                            (4) Maslow
a series of universal stages                                                                           
Codes: a          b          c          d
A          4          2          3          1
B          2          4          3          1
C          4          1          2          3
D          2          4          1          3
To answer this question, you must match at least two. But suppose you can match only one (Ego development- Erikson), then look which of the alternatives provides that match. You find A and B, so you have effectively reduced the uncertainty by 50%. After that if you have no idea then guess (there is 50% chance of correct choice). If you match (deficit and growth motives- Maslow), you have got the answer i.e B
In the former case, matching only one item of the list served the purpose while in the latter case even that of two may or may not help. So it is the way options are set that make the question difficult or easy.

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