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Glite Dictionary
🦴 Bone separator 🙉 Distraction ❌ Wrong answer
distractor

distractor

6.0
A wrong answer in a test meant to make people choose it instead of the correct one
  • noun
  • /dɪˈstræktər/
  • Jargon
translation icon : opción incorrecta
  • The test consisted of 41 multiple-choice test items with five possible answers: one correct and four distractors.
  • distractor items
  • auditory distractors
  • distractor and filler

The distractors are the incorrect answers.

Examples

  • The multiple-choice items had three distractors and one correct answer.

    Academic text (2014)

  • The three word choices presented to the student included the deleted word plus two word distractors.

    Academic text (2007)

  • The distractors are the incorrect answers.

    MIT OpenCourseWare

  • Together with the stem, each distractor of the four in a multiple choice test item needs to be plausible.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Students selected responses from three choices with two distractors and only one word that correctly completed the sentence.

    Academic text (2002)

  • However, many test generators put the multiple-choice distractors in a random order.

    Academic text (1993)

  • In the quiz, one distractor was designed to mislead the students into choosing the wrong answer.

  • Each multiple-choice question included three distractors to challenge the students' knowledge.

  • The instructor explained how effective distractors can help assess a student's understanding of the material.

Synonyms

red herring
vsdistractor
  • Informal
23 6.7

A clue that leads people away from the real issue

is a test option made to divert attention from the correct choice

Surface Forms

distractor singular
distractors plural

Morphology

distractor = distract (transparent) = distract + or

Clear agent nominalization from the verb 'distract' meaning something that distracts attention; this maps directly to the test-option sense.

Etymology

Distractor comes from dis- 'apart' and tract 'pull'. In a test a distractor 'pulls' your attention away from the right answer, so a wrong option is called a distractor because it tries to draw you away from the correct choice.