Priming Non-Compliant Students to Expend Test-Taking Effort: How Many Primes Are Needed?

Priming students with questions about effort prior to completing low-stakes assessments has increased test-taking effort. We extended this research by examining if initially non-compliant students (those who completed testing after the deadline) would respond to the priming intervention to the same extent as compliant students. Moreover, we examined if the priming effect would be similar when reducing the questions from three to one question. We randomly assigned incoming first-year college students to one of five priming conditions prior to completing a low-stakes test: answering one or three questions about intended effort, answering one or three questions about intended effort that infused positive self-identity, or answering no priming questions. Priming conditions were crossed by testing compliance condition (students who tested on time versus late). Compliance condition did not moderate the priming effect for self-reported effort; no questions resulted in significantly and practically lower self-reported effort than both three-question conditions. Compliance condition did moderate the priming effect for response time effort, with the three self-identity questions being effective for both compliant and non-compliant students. Thus, priming is a quick and effective mechanism to increase test-taking effort for all students, including those not initially compliant.