Is changing answers in your test a good idea?
Maybe you can answer a question in seconds. However, do not just trust your first instinct (直觉) in a test. Instincts are not about finding the truth. They are about survival. Your brain doesn't think through most stuff in life. It just uses shortcuts (捷径) to fool yourself into thinking you know.
Do you remember how it felt to be learning something new? At first it could be complicated. There were hundreds of details that your brain needed to look out for. When you're learning anything new, your brain is working overtime. Now imagine how you feel doing that new thing you learned before. It gets easier, right? Stuff gets easier because the brain starts creating shortcuts for decision making.
When you're taking a test, these shortcuts are usually your first instincts. If you see an answer that instantly looks related to the question, then your brain is going to start ringing alarm bells ( " This might be it " ). The logical part of your brain hasn't even come into the station and the conductor is screaming, " All aboard! "
Changing your answer is letting the logical part of your brain take the wheel. You are going to end up right more often than you end up wrong.
" But my experience says otherwise! " That's because your experience is just another shortcut. When you're examining your completed test, your brain probably has a shortcut of looking at your wrong answers and skipping the ones you got right. The bright red pen will direct you straight to your problem areas. That means you're probably not getting a fair representation of your results.
When you get an answer wrong because you changed your answer, you will probably notice it. It will stand out. The bright red circle just pulls your brain in. It forces your attention to it. Since it's a question you probably spent a minute or two on, you'll remember why you got it wrong. When you get an answer right because you changed your answer, the opposite happens. There are no red circles directing your attention to how awesomely smart thinking twice was. It will just slide unnoticed while you let your eyes wander over other red marked areas you need to think about.
