A computer program can successfully identify cheating and could be used as part of the quality assurance process of multiple choice medical examinations. McManus and colleagues (p 1064) used Acinonyx to detect anomalous pairs among 11 518 candidates taking a postgraduate medical examination in the United Kingdom. The program examined over 6 million pairs of candidates and identified 13 pairs of candidates who may have cheated. Subsequent analysis of the seating plans showed that it was physically possible that all 13 pairs cheated.
Figure 1.
Credit: MEPL