This study aimed to investigate the effects of calibration sample size and item bank size on examinee ability estimation in computerized adaptive testing (CAT). For this purpose, a 500-item bank pre-calibrated using the three-parameter logistic model with 10,000 examinees was simulated. Calibration samples of varying sizes (150, 250, 350, 500,…

The accuracy with which testees perceived the difficulty of ability-test items was investigated by administering two 41-item conventional tests on verbal ability. High- and low-ability groups responded to test items by choosing the correct alternative and then rating each item's difficulty relative to their levels of ability. Least-squares…

The effects of immediate knowledge of results (KR) concerning the correctness or incorrectness of each item response on a computer-administered test of verbal ability were investigated. The effects of KR were examined on a 50-item conventional test and a stradaptive ability test and in high- and low-ability groups. The primary dependent variable…

A conventional vocabulary test and two forms of a stradaptive vocabulary test were administered by a time-shared computer system to undergraduate college students. The two stradaptive tests differed in that one counted question mark responses (i.e., omitted items) as incorrect and the other ignored items responded to with question marks.…

Monte Carlo simulation procedures were used to study the psychometric characteristics of two two-stage adaptive tests and a conventional "peaked" ability test. Results showed that scores yielded by both two-stage tests better reflected the normal distribution of underlying ability. Ability estimates yielded by one of the two stage tests…

The general objective of a research program on adaptive testing was to identify several sources of potential error in test scores, and to study adaptive testing as a means for reducing these errors. Errors can result from the mismatch of item difficulty to the individual's ability; the psychological effects of testing and the test environment; the…

Research to date on adaptive (sequential, branched, individualized, tailored, programmed, response-contingent) ability testing is reviewed and summarized, following a brief review of problems inherent in conventional individual and group approaches to ability measurement. Research reviewed includes empirical, simulation and theoretical studies of…

A conventional test and two forms of a stradaptive test were administered to thousands of simulated subjects by minicomputer. Characteristics of the three tests using several scoring techniques were investigated while varying the discriminating power of the items, the lengths of the tests, and the availability of prior information about the…

The two major components in the Theory of Work Adjustment are the individual and the work environment. This theory is an individual-environment matching model with four basic components: (1) the work personality of the individual, (2) the work environment, (3) measured work adjustment, and (4) work adjustment outcomes. The individual's work…

Three related experimental studies analyzed rate and accuracy of test response under time-limit and no-time-limit conditions. Test instructions and multiple-choice vocabulary items were administered by computer. Student volunteers received monetary rewards under both testing conditions. In the first study college students were blocked into high-…

This research program was designed to investigate the applications of item response theory and computerized adaptive testing to the unique problems of the measurement of ability and the measurement of achievement. The research utilized a combination of monte carlo simulation studies and live-testing studies. The research approach for adaptive…

A 40-item flexilevel test and a 40-item conventional test were compared using data obtained through (1) computer-administration of the two tests to three groups of college students, and (2) monte carlo simulation of test response patterns. Results indicated the flexilevel score distribution better reflected the underlying normal distribution of…

A 15-stage pyramidal test and a 40-item two-stage test were constructed and administered by computer to 111 college undergraduates. The two-stage test was found to utilize a smaller proportion of its potential score range than the pyramidal test. Score distributions for both tests were positively skewed but not significantly different from the…

The effects of providing immediate knowledge of results (KR) and adaptive testing on test anxiety and test-taking motivation were investigated. Also studied was the accuracy of student perceptions of the difficulty of adaptive and conventional tests administered with or without immediate knowledge of results. Testees were 350 college students…

During 1975-1979 this research into the potential of computerized adaptive testing to reduce errors in the measurement of human capabilities used Marine recruits for a live-testing validity comparison of computerized adaptive and conventional tests. The program purposes were to: (1) identify the most useful computer-based adaptive testing…