This article addresses the issue of how to detect item preknowledge using item response time data in two computer-based large-scale licensure examinations. Item preknowledge is indicated by an unexpected short response time and a correct response. Two samples were used for detecting item preknowledge for each examination. The first sample was from…

This paper highlights the current findings and issues regarding the role of computer-adaptive testing in test anxiety. The computer-adaptive test (CAT) proposed by one of the Common Core consortia brings these issues to the forefront. Research has long indicated that test anxiety impairs student performance. More recent research indicates that…

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…

Computerized adaptive testing procedures (CATPs) based on the graded response method (GRM) of F. Samejima (1969) and the partial credit model (PCM) of G. Masters (1982) were developed and compared. Both programs used maximum likelihood estimation of ability, and item selection was conducted on the basis of information. Two simulated data sets, one…

The effect of dimensionality on an adaptive test's ability estimation was examined. Two-dimensional data sets, which differed from one another in the interdimensional ability association, the correlation among the difficulty parameters, and whether the item discriminations were or were not confounded with item difficulty, were generated for 1,600…

The use of item response theory (IRT) is a prerequisite to successful use of computerized test systems. In item response models, as opposed to classical test theory, the abilities of the examinees and the properties of the items are parameterized separately. Therefore, when measuring the abilities of examinees, the model implicitly corrects for…

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…

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…

Monte Carlo simulation was used to investigate score bias and information characteristics of Owen's Bayesian adaptive testing strategy, and to examine possible causes of score bias. Factors investigated in three related studies included effects of item discrimination, effects of fixed vs. variable test length, and effects of an accurate prior…

Dichotomous search strategies (DSSs) for computerized adaptive testing are similar to golden section search strategies (GSSSs). Each middle point of successive search regions is a testing point. After each item is administered, the subject's obtained score is compared with the expected score at successive testing points. If the subject's obtained…

The purpose of this study was to use realistically simulated data to evaluate various CAT designs for use with the verbal reasoning measure of the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). Factors such as item pool depth, content constraints, and item formats often cause repeated adaptive administrations of an item at ability levels that are not…

As a measure of musical aptitude, a new 90-item Pitch Discrimination Test was developed, and its internal structure was examined. Each of the three sections of the test measures an individual's aptitude for pitch discrimination in a different frequency range using square-wave tones generated by a personal computer. A total of 1,303 examinees,…