Abstract
When students expect to be tested, they often accommodate their method of learning to the test demands or to their teacher's evaluation criteria. This phenomenon is, in the present article, called “adaptation to the test.” In a review of the relevant literature, 3 issues are addressed. First, the critical role of learning strategy was confirmed from a review of empirical findings on test expectancy effects and studies of learning strategies. Second, the present review points out that adaptation to the test leads to 2 crises: problems with students' learning behavior, and problems with test validity. Third, the following were presented as possible ways to overcome these difficulties:(1) the elimination of individual differences in test-wiseness and test-taking skills,(2) the introduction of alternative assessment methods,(3) informed assessment,(4) an expansion of the concept of validity, and (5) a concern about face validity.
