Multiple choice, objective response, or MCQ (for Multiple Choice Question) is a form of an objective assessment in which respondents are asked to select only correct answers from the choices offered as a list. The multiple choice format is most frequently used in educational testing, in market research, and in elections, when a person chooses between multiple candidates, parties, or policies.
Although E. L. Thorndike developed an early scientific approach to testing students, it was his assistant Benjamin D. Wood who developed the multiple-choice test. Multiple-choice testing increased in popularity in the mid-20th century when scanners and data-processing machines were developed to check the results. Christopher P. Sole created the first multiple-choice examination for computers on a Sharp Mz 80 computer in 1982. It was developed to aid people with dyslexia cope with agricultural subjects, as Latin plant names can be difficult to understand and write. The first complete exam was developed at St Edwards School in Romsey, England.