Cognitive component research on aptitudes has shown that performance on test items depends on a series of processing events. Each processing component potentially defines a separate construct that contributes to item and subject differences in performance. This article presents the multicomponent latent trait model for measuring these component…

A probabilistic approach is introduced to classify and diagnose erroneous rules of operation resulting from a variety of misconceptions ("bugs") in a procedural domain of arithmetic. The model is contrasted with the deterministic approach which has commonly been used in the field of artificial intelligence, and the advantage of treating the…

Conjunctive item response models are introduced such that: (1) sufficient statistics for latent traits are not necessarily additive in item scores; (2) items are not necessarily locally independent; and (3) existing compensatory (additive) item response models including the binomial, Rasch, logistic, and general locally independent model are…

Some cognitive psychologists, who have tried to approach psychometric theories, say that the psychometric approach does not provide them with theories and methods with which they can deal with differential strategies. In this paper, a general latent trait model for differential strategies in cognitive processes is proposed which includes three…

When learning is taking place, students test their hypotheses and evaluate them, and modify their current theories on the basis of new information. This phenomenon is known as "hypothesis testing view" or "theory changes." Many students change their rules to another while they are taking a test. This study introduced a new…

This article examines the potential contribution of latent trait models to the study of intelligence. Nontechnical introductions to both unidimensional and multidimensional latent trait models are given. Multidimensional latent trait models can be used to test alternative multiple component theories of test item processing. (Author/CTM)

This study examined the influence of processing strategies, and the metacomponents that determine when to apply them, on the construct validity of a verbal reasoning test. A rule-oriented strategy, an association strategy, and a partial rule strategy were examined. All three strategies contributed to individual differences in verbal reasoning.…

A model of verbal performance was developed which defined cognitive processes thought to underlie performance on the Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension subtests of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). The items from two forms of these ASVAB verbal subtests were rated on five conceptualized cognitive storage processes:…

This paper introduces a probabilistic model that is capable of diagnosing and classifying cognitive errors in a general problem-solving domain. Item response theory is used to deal with the variability of response errors. Responses from a 38 item fraction addition test given to 595 junior high school students are used to illustrate the model.…

The differences in types of information-processing skills developed by different instructional backgrounds affect, negatively or positively, the learning of further advanced instructional materials. If prior and subsequent instructional methods are different, a proactive inhibition effect produces low achievement scores on a post test. This poses…

Development of The Assessment of Basic Competencies (ABC), a test battery based on the three-parameter logistic model, is described. Eleven dimensions of intellectual growth are measured, from the pre-kindergarten level through ninth grade. An educationally relevant skill domain is represented by each test. Unique properties of the test, based on…