Option weighting is an alternative to increasing test length as a means of improving the reliability of a test. The effects on test reliability of option weighting procedures were compared in two empirical studies using four independent sets of items. Biserial weights were found to be superior. (Author/CTM)

Several important implications in latent trait theory, with implications for individualized or tailored testing, are pointed out. A way of using the information function in tailored testing in connection with the standard error estimation of the ability level using maximum likelihood estimation is suggested. (Author/JKS)

The answer-until-correct (AUC) procedure requires that examinees respond to a multi-choice item until they answer it correctly. Using a modified version of Horst's model for examinee behavior, this paper compares the effect of guessing on item reliability for the AUC procedure and the zero-one scoring procedure. (Author/CTM)

Sets of inventory scales were constructed from a common item pool, using variants of what are here called the Inductive, Deductive, and External strategies. Peer ratings for 21 traits served as criteria. Very little variation in validity was attributable to construction strategies. (Author/CTM)

Person changes can be of three kinds: developmental trends, swells, and tremors. Person unreliability in the tremor sense (momentary fluctuations) can be estimated from person characteristic curves. Average person reliability for groups can be compared from item characteristic curves. (Author)

The advantages of using psychometric thoery to design short forms of intelligence tests are demonstrated by comparing such usage to a systematic random procedure that has previously been used. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Revised (WISC-R) Short Form is presented as an example. (JKS)

Under given conditions, conventional testing and computer-generated repeatable testing (CGRT) are equally effective for estimating examinee ability; CGRT is more effective for estimating the mean ability level of a group and less effective for estimating ability differences among individuals. These conclusion are drawn from domain-referenced test…

Recent assessment research joining cognitive psychology and psychometric theory has introduced a new technology, item generation. In algorithmic item generation, items are systematically created based on specific combinations of features that underlie the processing required to correctly solve a problem. Reading comprehension items have been more…

This research attempted to interrelate several methods of producing option weights (i.e., Guttman internal and external weights and judges' weights) and examined their effects on reliability and on concurrent, predictive, and face validity. It was concluded that option weighting offered limited, if any, improvement over unit weighting. (Author/CTM)