An experiment was conducted that contrasted a variant of computerized adaptive testing, self-adapted testing, with two traditional tests. Participants completed a self-report of text anxiety and were randomly assigned to take one of the three tests of verbal ability. Subjects generally chose more difficult items as the test progressed. (Author/LMO)

The effects of providing immediate feedback on an item-by-item basis to testees were investigated on several samples of undergraduates who were administered either adaptive or conventional tests. Results generally indicated that knowledge of results improved test performance. (JKS)

A computerized adaptive testing procedure for measuring mathematical skills of 60 deaf college students was evaluated. Ability estimates were compared for stability to those obtained earlier from conventional testing. Adaptive testing increased measurement efficiency by reducing test length. Student attitudes toward computerized testing were…

The effects of reviewing items and altering responses on the efficiency of computerized adaptive tests and resultant ability estimates of the examinees were explored for medical technology students (220 students could and 492 students could not review and alter their responses). Data do not support disallowing review. (SLD)

According to item response theory (IRT), examinee ability estimation is independent of the particular set of test items administered from a calibrated pool. Although the most popular application of this feature of IRT is computerized adaptive (CA) testing, a recently proposed alternative is self-adapted (SA) testing, in which examinees choose the…

Little research exists on the psychological impacts of computerized adaptive testing (CAT) and how it may affect test performance. Three CAT procedures were examined, in which items were selected to match students' achievement levels, from the item pool at random, or according to student choice of item difficulty levels. Twenty-four graduate…

Computerized adaptive (CA) testing uses an algorithm to match examinee ability to item difficulty, while self-adapted (SA) testing allows the examinee to choose the difficulty of his or her items. Research comparing SA and CA testing has shown that examinees experience lower anxiety and improved performance with SA testing. All previous research…

The measurement precision, efficiency, and validity of an adaptive test and four conventional listening tests designed to assess musical ability were compared. The conventional tests were the Seashore Tonal Memory Test and three tests (peaked, rectangular, and maximum discrimination) constructed from items in the 278-item adaptive test pool. The…

Two types of computer-administered unit quizzes in a systematic pathology course for second-year medical students were compared. Quizzes composed of questions selected on the basis of a student's ability had higher correlations with the final examination than did quizzes composed of questions randomly selected from topic areas. (Author/JAZ)

This study explores the test-retest consistency of computer adaptive tests of varying lengths. The testing model used was designed as a mastery model to determine whether an examinee's estimated ability level is above or below a pre-established criterion expressed in the metric (logits) of the calibrated item pool scale. The Rasch model was used…

This study assessed whether providing examinees with a choice between computerized adaptive testing (CAT) and self-adaptive testing (SAT) affects test performance in comparison with being assigned a CAT or SAT, and evaluated variables influencing examinee choice of either test form. The relative influences of test type and test choice on examinee…

The effects of review options (the opportunity for examinees to review and change answers) on the magnitude, reliability, efficiency, and concurrent validity of scores obtained from three types of computerized vocabulary tests (fixed item, adaptive, and self-adapted) were studied. Subjects were 97 college students at a large midwestern university…

The level of confidence in pass/fail decisions obtained with computer adaptive tests (CATs) was compared to decisions based on paper-and-pencil tests. Subjects included 645 medical technology students from 238 educational programs across the country. The tests used in this study constituted part of the subjects' review for the certification…

Possible causes of a 16-point mean score increase for the computer adaptive form of the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) in reading over the paper-and-pencil test (PPT) in reading are examined. The adaptive form of the CLAST was used in a state-wide field test in which reading, writing, and computation scores for approximately 1,000…

Three computerized adaptive tests (CATs) in mathematics, reading, and writing were administered to 628 community college students to determine whether examinees of different ethnic, gender, ability, and age groups, and computer experience were differentially affected. Some differences exist; however, they do not preclude use of CATs. (SLD)