TESTER, a computer program which produces individualized objective tests from a pool of items, is described. Available in both PL/1 and FORTRAN, TESTER may be executed either interactively or in batch. (Author/JKS)

Simple sum procedure of the conditional PDF approach (plausiblity of distractor function) combined with the normal approach method was applied for estimating the plausibility functions of the distractors of the Level II vocabulary subtest items of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. In so doing, the normal ogive model was adopted for the correct…

The applicability of item characteristic curve (ICC) theory to a multiple choice test item pool used to measure achievement is described. The rationale for attempting to use ICC theory in an achievement framework is summarized, and the adequacy for adaptive testing of a classroom achievement test item pool in a college biology class is studied.…

This paper describes a computer program in Microsoft BASIC which selects and administers test items from a small item bank. The level of the difficulty of the item selected depends on the test taker's previous response. This adaptive system is based on the Rasch model. The Rasch model uses a unit of measurement based on the logarithm of 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)

Tailored testing procedures for achievement testing were applied in a situation that failed to meet some of the specifications generally considered to be necessary for tailored testing. Discrepancies from the appropriate conditions included the use of small samples for calibrating items, and the use of an item pool that was not designed to be…

This pamphlet reprints three papers and an invited discussion of them, read at a Division 5 Symposium at the 1975 American Psychological Association Convention. The first paper describes a Bayesian tailored testing process and shows how it demonstrates the importance of using test items with high discrimination, low guessing probability, and a…

One question regarding the utility of adaptive testing is the effect of individualized item arrangements on examinee test scores. The purpose of this study was to analyze the item difficulty choices by examinees as a function of previous item performance. The examination was a 25-item test of basic algebra skills given to 36 students in an…

Twenty multiple-choice vocabulary items and 20 free-response vocabulary items were administered to 660 college students. The free-response items consisted of the stem words of the multiple-choice items. Testees were asked to respond to the free-response items with synonyms. A computer algorithm was developed to transform the numerous…

This primer is an introduction to item response theory (also called item characteristic curve theory, or latent trait theory) as it is used most commonly--for scoring multiple choice achievement or aptitude tests. Written for the testing practitioner with minimum training in statistics and psychometrics, it presents and illustrates the basic…