You Are a College Professor Grading the Exams of Students

Multiple Choice

You are a college professor grading the exams of students in your class. Student A and Student B both got 25 correct out of a total of 40 multiple-choice questions. However, Student A got the first 15 items correct but missed 10 out of the last 25 items. Student B, on the other hand, got the first 15 items wrong but had correct answers for the last 25 questions. According to research by Jones and his colleagues, what kind of impression would you be likely to have of these students?

A) Student A is smarter than Student B
B) Student B is smarter than Student A
C) Student A and Student B are equally intelligent
D) Student A became overconfident while taking the exam, while Student B started off insecure but gained confidence over time