A test battery with two different levels of adaptation is presented: a within-subtest level for the selection of the items in the subtests and a between-subtest level to move from one subtest to the next. The battery runs on a two-level model consisting of a regular response model for each of the subtests extended with a second level for the joint…

The adaptation of experimental cognitive tasks into measures that can be used to quantify neurocognitive outcomes in translational studies and clinical trials has become a key component of the strategy to address psychiatric and neurological disorders. Unfortunately, while most experimental cognitive tests have strong theoretical bases, they can…

This study focused on the effect of examinees' ability levels on the relationship between Reflective-Impulsive (RI) cognitive style and item response time in computerized adaptive testing (CAT). The total of 56 students majoring in Educational Technology from Shandong Normal University participated in this study, and their RI cognitive styles were…

An approach to scoring reading comprehension based on the concept of the testlet is described, using models developed for items in multiple categories. The model is illustrated using data from 3,866 examinees. Application of testlet scoring to multiple category models developed for individual items is discussed. (SLD)

Information functions are used to find the optimum ability levels and maximum contributions to information for estimating item parameters in three commonly used logistic item response models. Implications are discussed for applications such as adaptive testing and test construction. (SLD)

Dichotomous item response theory (IRT) models can be viewed as families of stochastically ordered distributions of responses to test items. This paper explores several properties of such distributions. The focus is on the conditions under which stochastic order in families of conditional distributions is transferred to their inverse distributions,…

Test validity is a concept that has often been ignored in the context of latent trait models and in modern test theory, particularly as it relates to computerized adaptive testing. Some considerations about the validity of a test and of a single item are proposed. This paper focuses on measures that are population-free and that will provide local…

A method is proposed that increases the accuracies of estimation of the operating characteristics of discrete item responses, especially when the true operating characteristic is represented by a steep curve, and also at the lower and upper ends of the ability distribution where the estimation tends to be inaccurate because of the smaller number…

This simulation study involved the design of two two-stage tests in which the routing tests and the second-stage measurement testlets took the form of a multidimensional knapsack problem with prespecified target informations and constraints to be enumerated using the algorithm of E. Balas. Two conventional tests of similar length to the two-stage…

A study involving 1,000 simulated examinees compared the partial credit and graded response models in computerized adaptive testing (CAT). The graded response model fit the data well and provided slightly more accurate ability estimates than those of the partial credit model. Benefits of polytomous model-based CATs are discussed. (SLD)

A computerized adaptive test (CAT) based on the nominal response model (NR CAT) was implemented, and the performance of the NR CAT and a CAT based on the three-parameter logistic model was compared. The NR CAT produced trait estimates comparable to those of the three-parameter test. (SLD)

Effects of the following variables on performance of computerized adaptive testing (CAT) procedures for the partial credit model (PCM) were studied: (1) stopping rule for terminating CAT; (2) item pool size; and (3) distribution of item difficulties. Implications of findings for CAT systems based on the PCM are discussed. (SLD)

One important and promising application of item response theory (IRT) is computerized adaptive testing (CAT). The implementation of a nominal response model-based CAT (NRCAT) was studied. Item pool characteristics for the NRCAT as well as the comparative performance of the NRCAT and a CAT based on the three-parameter logistic (3PL) model were…

Two modification formulas are presented for the test information function in order to provide better measures of local accuracies of the estimation of "theta" when maximum likelihood estimation is used to provide the estimate of ability "theta." A minimum bound of any estimator, biased or unbiased, is considered; and Formula 1…

Effects of dimensionality on ability estimation of an adaptive test were examined using generated data in Bayesian computerized adaptive testing (CAT) simulations. Generally, increasing interdimensional difficulty association produced a slight decrease in test length and an increase in accuracy of ability estimation as assessed by root mean square…