Time availability perception: It's effects on assessment results in 6th graders

The aim of this research is to test weather the perception of time availability different from the actual task time might modify the task's outcome. 92 students of Sixth Grade, randomized in 4 different groups were tested with the PMA spatial scale for a period. Although each group indeed had 5 minutes to respond, they were informed that the available time was: 3 minutes; 5 minutes; 7 minutes; and no time limit, respectively. Results show that the perception of a slightly larger availability of time improves significantly the performance, being the errors notably lesser than those in the other groups. Such results support some lines of evaluation processes enhancement, both academic and psychometric. © UPV/EHU.