In achievement testing there is typically a practical requirement that the set of items administered should be representative of some target content domain. This is accomplished by establishing test blueprints specifying the content constraints to be followed when selecting the items for a test. Sometimes, however, students give disengaged…

The speed-accuracy trade-off (SAT) suggests that time constraints reduce response accuracy. Its relevance in observational settings--where response time (RT) may not be constrained but respondent speed may still vary--is unclear. Using 29 data sets containing data from cognitive tasks, we use a flexible method for identification of the SAT (which…

Technology-Enhanced Items (TEIs) have been purported to be more motivating and engaging to test takers than traditional multiple-choice items. The claim of enhanced engagement, however, has thus far received limited research attention. This study examined the rates of rapid-guessing behavior received by three types of items (multiple-choice,…

Whenever the purpose of measurement is to inform an inference about a student's achievement level, it is important that we be able to trust that the student's test score accurately reflects what that student knows and can do. Such trust requires the assumption that a student's test event is not unduly influenced by construct-irrelevant factors…

The rise of computer-based testing has brought with it the capability to measure more aspects of a test event than simply the answers selected or constructed by the test taker. One behavior that has drawn much research interest is the time test takers spend responding to individual multiple-choice items. In particular, very short response…

Assessment results collected under low-stakes testing situations are subject to effects of low examinee effort. The use of computer-based testing allows researchers to develop new ways of measuring examinee effort, particularly using response times. At the item level, responses can be classified as exhibiting either rapid-guessing behavior or…

This investigation examined whether different rates of rapid guessing between groups could lead to detectable levels of differential item functioning (DIF) in situations where the item parameters were the same for both groups. Two simulation studies were designed to explore this possibility. The groups in Study 1 were simulated to reflect…

Previous research has shown that rapid-guessing behavior can degrade the validity of test scores from low-stakes proficiency tests. This study examined, using hierarchical generalized linear modeling, examinee and item characteristics for predicting rapid-guessing behavior. Several item characteristics were found significant; items with more text…

Development of adaptive tests used in K-12 settings requires the creation of stable measurement scales to measure the growth of individual students from one grade to the next, and to measure change in groups from one year to the next. Accountability systems like No Child Left Behind require stable measurement scales so that accountability has…

This study compared four methods for setting item response time thresholds to differentiate rapid-guessing behavior from solution behavior. Thresholds were either (a) common for all test items, (b) based on item surface features such as the amount of reading required, (c) based on visually inspecting response time frequency distributions, or (d)…

Examined whether providing item review on a computerized adaptive test could be used by examinees to inflate their scores. Two studies involving 139 undergraduates suggest that examinees are not highly proficient at discriminating item difficulty. A simulation study showed the usefulness of a strategy identified by G. Kingsbury (1996) as a way to…

When low-stakes assessments are administered, the degree to which examinees give their best effort is often unclear, complicating the validity and interpretation of the resulting test scores. This study introduces a new method, based on item response time, for measuring examinee test-taking effort on computer-based test items. This measure, termed…

The degree to which item review on a computerized adaptive test (CAT) could be used by examinees to inflate their scores artificially was studied. G. G. Kingsbury (1996) described a strategy in which examinees could use the changes in item difficulty during a CAT to determine which items' answers are incorrect and should be changed during item…

Two operational item pools were used to investigate the performance of stratum computerized adaptive tests (CATs) when items were assigned to strata based on empirical estimates of item difficulty or human judgments of item difficulty. Items from the first data set consisted of 54 5-option multiple choice items from a form of the ACT mathematics…

Previous studies have shown that, when administered a self-adapted test, a few examinees will choose item difficulty levels that are not well-matched to their proficiencies, resulting in high standard errors of proficiency estimation. This study investigated whether the previously observed effects of a self-adapted test--lower anxiety and higher…