When designing or modifying a test, an important challenge is controlling its speededness. To achieve this, van der Linden (2011a, 2011b) proposed using a lognormal response time model, more specifically the two-parameter lognormal model, and automated test assembly (ATA) via mixed integer linear programming. However, this approach has a severe…

Response times (RTs) have recently attracted a significant amount of attention in the literature as they may provide meaningful information about item preknowledge. In this study, a new model, the Deterministic Gated Lognormal Response Time (DG-LNRT) model, is proposed to identify examinees with item preknowledge using RTs. The proposed model was…

A slowdown or a speedup in response times across experimental conditions can be taken as evidence of online deployment of knowledge. However, response-time difference measures are rarely evaluated on their reliability, and there is no standard practice to estimate it. In this article, we used three open data sets to explore an approach to…

Recent investigations on how people derive meaning from language have focused on task-dependent shifts between two cognitive systems. The symbolic (amodal) system represents meaning as the statistical relationships between words. The embodied (modal) system represents meaning through neurocognitive simulation of perceptual or sensorimotor systems…

When facing many options, we narrow down our focus to very few of them. Although behaviors like this can be a sign of heuristics, they can actually be optimal under limited cognitive resources. Here, we study the problem of how to optimally allocate limited sampling time to multiple options, modeled as accumulators of noisy evidence, to determine…

Detection methods for item preknowledge are often evaluated in simulation studies where models are used to generate the data. To ensure the reliability of such methods, it is crucial that these models are able to accurately represent situations that are encountered in practice. The purpose of this article is to provide a critical analysis of…

The Lognormal Response Time (LNRT) model measures the speed of test-takers relative to the normative time demands of items on a test. The resulting speed parameters and model residuals are often analyzed for evidence of anomalous test-taking behavior associated with fast and poorly fitting response time patterns. Extending this model, we…

Event-based prospective memory (PM) tasks require individuals to remember to perform a previously planned action when they encounter a specific event. Often, the natural environments in which PM tasks occur are embedded are constantly changing, requiring humans to adapt by learning. We examine one such adaptation by integrating PM target learning…

When producing creative ideas (i.e., ideas that are original and useful) two main processes occur: ideation, where people brainstorm ideas, and evaluation, where they decide if the ideas are creative or not. While much is known about the ideation phase, the cognitive processes involved in creativity evaluation are less clear. In this article, we…

Researchers have become increasingly interested in response times to survey items as a measure of cognitive effort. We used machine learning to develop a prediction model of response times based on 41 attributes of survey items (e.g., question length, response format, linguistic features) collected in a large, general population sample. The…

The increased availability of time-related information as a result of computer-based assessment has enabled new ways to measure test-taking engagement. One of these ways is to distinguish between solution and rapid guessing behavior. Prior research has recommended response-level filtering to deal with rapid guessing. Response-level filtering can…

The Q-diffusion model is a cognitive process model that considers decision making as an unobservable information accumulation process. Both item and person parameters decide the trace line of the cognitive process, which further decides observed response and response time. Because the likelihood function for the Q-diffusion model is intractable,…

Preventing panel members from attriting is a fundamental challenge for panel surveys. Research has shown that response behavior in earlier waves (response or nonresponse) is a good predictor of panelists' response behavior in upcoming waves. However, response behavior can be described in greater detail by considering the time until the response is…

There has been considerable interest in what components of decision-making change when speed or accuracy is stressed. In many early studies, quite strict assumptions were made about parameter invariance across experimental conditions (sometimes called selective influence). Here we fit the standard diffusion model to the data from four large…

Forced-choice (FC) measures have been widely used in many personality or attitude tests as an alternative to rating scales, which employ comparative rather than absolute judgments. Several response biases, such as social desirability, response styles, and acquiescence bias, can be reduced effectively. Another type of data linked with comparative…