Growing reliance on complex constructed response items has generated considerable interest in automated scoring solutions. Many of these solutions are described in the literature; however, relatively few studies have been published that "compare" automated scoring strategies. Here, comparisons are made among five strategies for…

The Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale is a well-known self-report instrument that is used to measure depressive symptomatology. Respondents who take the full-length version of the CES-D are administered a total of 20 items. This article investigates the use of curtailment and stochastic curtailment (SC), two sequential…

In a selected response test, aberrant responses such as careless errors and lucky guesses might cause error in ability estimation because these responses do not actually reflect the knowledge that examinees possess. In a computerized adaptive test (CAT), these aberrant responses could further cause serious estimation error due to dynamic item…

Current interest in measuring quality of life is generating interest in the construction of computerized adaptive tests (CATs) with Likert-type items. Calibration of an item bank for use in CAT requires collecting responses to a large number of candidate items. However, the number is usually too large to administer to each subject in the…

This study examined the performance of the maximum Fisher's information, the maximum posterior weighted information, and the minimum expected posterior variance methods for selecting items in a computerized adaptive testing system when the items were grouped in testlets. A simulation study compared the efficiency of ability estimation among the…

In a typical study comparing the relative efficiency of two item selection rules in computerized adaptive testing, the common result is that they simultaneously differ in accuracy and security, making it difficult to reach a conclusion on which is the more appropriate rule. This study proposes a strategy to conduct a global comparison of two or…

This simulation study sought to compare four different computerized adaptive testing (CAT) content-balancing procedures designed for use in a multidimensional assessment with respect to measurement precision, symptom severity classification, validity of clinical diagnostic recommendations, and sensitivity to atypical responding. The four…

Item selection is a core component in computerized adaptive testing (CAT). Several studies have evaluated new and classical selection methods; however, the few that have applied such methods to the use of polytomous items have reported conflicting results. To clarify these discrepancies and further investigate selection method properties, six…

Assessing individual change is an important topic in both psychological and educational measurement. An adaptive measurement of change (AMC) method had previously been shown to exhibit greater efficiency in detecting change than conventional nonadaptive methods. However, little work had been done to compare different procedures within the AMC…

This article deals with some of the problems that have hindered the application of Samejima's and Thissen and Steinberg's multiple-choice models: (a) parameter estimation difficulties owing to the large number of parameters involved, (b) parameter identifiability problems in the Thissen and Steinberg model, and (c) their treatment of omitted…

In a randomized experiment (n = 515), a computerized and a computerized adaptive test (CAT) are compared. The item pool consists of 24 polytomous motivation items. Although items are carefully selected, calibration data show that Samejima's graded response model did not fit the data optimally. A simulation study is done to assess possible…

Studied the impact of using five different exposure control algorithms in two sizes of item pool calibrated using the generalized partial credit model. Simulation results show that the a-stratified design, in comparison to a no-exposure control condition, could be used to reduce item exposure and overlap and increase pool use, while degrading…

Studied the cross-mode equivalence of paper-and-pencil and computer-based clerical tests with 141 undergraduates. Found no differences across modes for the two types of tests. Differences can be minimized when speeded computerized tests follow the same administration and response procedures as the paper format. (SLD)

Investigated three models that permit restricted examinee control over revising previous answers in the context of adaptive testing, using simulation. Two models permitting item revisions worked well in preserving test fairness and accuracy, and one model may preserve some cognitive processing styles developed by examinees for a linear testing…

Multidimensional adaptive testing (MAT) procedures are proposed for the measurement of several latent traits by a single examination. Bayesian latent trait estimation and adaptive item selection are derived. Simulations were conducted to compare the measurement efficiency of MAT with those of unidimensional adaptive testing and random…