I recently spent time in Nashville, Tenn. at the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry (ARBO) meeting. During that meeting, a National Board of Examiners in Optometry (NBEO) psychometrician discussed test scores. I found the discussion fascinating.
For example, one exam’s 2020 and 2022 versions had approximately 140 questions in common. Candidate performance on those questions decreased by roughly 5% over the same period. Identical questions. Lower candidate performance.
Building a theory
The reasons for changes in pass rates can be complex, but I have a theory based on a discussion two years ago with a friend who teaches at one of the schools of optometry.
Specifically, her students had done well, but she was concerned that some believed they received a subpar education due to COVID-19. As a result, her school worked very hard to show students they had the same education as years prior.
Shawn Achor’s book, “The Happiness Advantage — How a Positive Brain Fuels Success in Work and Life,” speaks to the power of positive thinking. While we think achieving success will grant us happiness, his research shows the opposite. Being happy or having a positive attitude is more likely to contribute to our success.
Achor discusses the Pygmalion Effect, which is the idea that higher expectations from others can lead to an improvement in performance. An example from the book is how teachers’ expectations influence student performance.
Achor highlights a study in which teachers were told that certain students had been identified as “bloomers,” who were expected to make significant academic progress based on a test. In reality, these students were randomly chosen. However, because the teachers believed these students had high potential, they unknowingly gave them more attention, encouragement, and opportunities to succeed. As a result, the “bloomers” performed better academically by the end of the year.
Real-world experience
In 2011, precisely two weeks before being installed as the new American Optometric Association president, I drove one hour to take an exam for the first time in many years. It was the first time I had ever driven to a testing center, been fingerprinted, checked all my belongings, and ushered into a room that contained a cubicle and a computer to take an exam. That exam was for the American Board of Optometry. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I had been on the road for 185 days the year before this exam, so study time was non-existent. In my hour-long drive, I chose three words of affirmation and kept repeating them to myself to harness the power of positive thinking. I passed the exam.
That NBEO exam
That brings me back to the NBEO exam. Did students believe they were getting a poorer education and, as a result, think they couldn’t pass the exam? Did students have a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure?
As I research for a lecture I’m creating on Achor’s book, I keep returning to positive think-ing. Wouldn’t it be interesting to study the pass rates among students whose schools have embraced ways to increase positive thinking just before national boards? According to Achor, happiness breeds success. OM
