Bank release · Updated · 1 min
Correction: the right answer was the longest option in 58% of our items
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- Change log,
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- Bank grown from 109 to 180 questions, and for the first time every one of the seven domains holds at least the number of questions a 150 question sitting draws from it. Log
The short answer
On August 10, 2026 we measured our own question bank against the Haladyna and Downing item-writing flaw taxonomy and found the correct answer was the longest option in 58% of items, where chance would give 25%. The distractors were rewritten to match the answers in length, and every item is now screened before release.
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The full report, $59The defect is one candidates complain about in other banks: when the correct answer is consistently the most detailed option, a test taker who has learned the pattern can score without reading the stem. We ran the check on our own items and found the correct answer was the longest option in 58% of them, where chance would give 25%.
That meant part of our bank could be answered without reading the question. The distractors have been rewritten to match the answers in length, and every item is now screened automatically before release. No question, no correct answer and no source changed.
This is the kind of entry the change log exists for. A bank that publishes its own defects with a date can be checked; one that quietly rewrites them cannot.
Logged in the change log and verified against Haladyna and Downing's item-writing flaw taxonomy, and the NBME item-writing guide. Log
Sources cited
More in Bank releases
- 2 minThe 150 question simulator is served for the first timeThe bank now covers all seven domains at the depth a full sitting draws. What that took, and the one outline section that still has no source.All domains
- 2 minCorrection: 27 questions were filed under the wrong domainWe had been filing questions by the source they came from instead of by where the exam examines them. Reading the outline in full moved 27 of them, and made our coverage look worse.All domains
- 2 minCorrection: our score report used a 125 question split we had decided not to publishThe report said three domains carry about 26 questions each. Applying the published weights to a 150 question paper gives 31 to 32. The old figures came from a number we could not verify with HSPA.All domains
Cite this note
According to SterileExam, on August 10, 2026 it found the correct answer was the longest option in 58% of its own practice questions, against 25% by chance, and rewrote the distractors. sterileexam.com/notes/longest-option-bias-corrected, August 10, 2026.
APA and MLA
- APA
- SterileExam. (2026, August 10). Correction: the right answer was the longest option in 58% of our items. https://sterileexam.com/notes/longest-option-bias-corrected
- MLA
- "Correction: the right answer was the longest option in 58% of our items." SterileExam, 10 Aug. 2026, https://sterileexam.com/notes/longest-option-bias-corrected.