The usefulness of studying thought processes in the construct validation of ability tests was examined using a sample consisting of 343 Canadian senior high school students. Four levels of probing were used by the interviewer to examine the students' thinking processes while taking the Test on Appraising Observations: (1) think aloud; (2)…

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…

Data available from the Fall and Spring administration of the Stanford Achievement Test: Intermediate I: Form X and the Otis-Lennon Mental Ability Test for all Title I pupils in the State of New Hampshire plus a random sample for the entire state, made possible the item-by-item comparison of Fall and Spring performance on the same groups of…

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…

As in any very large survey, the sample that provided data for the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS) differed from the random sample of the study design because of nonresponse from 226 of the 1,200 schools in the primary sample, and a small amount of other missing data. Part A of this report, briefly describes the…

Gumpgookies, an objective-projective test of school achievement motivation for children 3 1/2 to 8 year, was reduced from 100 to 75 items following extensive factor analyses. This revised test attempted to dissipate the effects of response sets of the subjects and was prepared in three versions--an individual form, a group form for non-readers,…

Three questions concerning the Binary Search Method (BSM) of computerized adaptive testing were studied: (1) whether it provided a reliable and valid estimation of examinee ability; (2) its effect on examinee attitudes toward computerized adaptive testing and conventional paper-and-pencil testing; and (3) the relationship between item response…

Information provided by typical and improved conventional classroom achievement tests was compared with information provided by an adaptive test covering the same subject matter. Both tests were administered to over 700 college students in a general biology course. Using the same scoring method, adaptive testing was found to yield substantially…

An investigation was conducted to determine whether the Parental Attitude and Behavior Inventory (PABI) Form III, a lengthy self-report instrument (577 items each for both parents) for assessing parents' attitudes and behavior toward their children and each other, could be shortened to a more feasible length. This terminal report summarizes the…

Gives examples of major sources of unreliability in multiple choice items in health professions classroom achievement tests (clues to response combinations, mutually exclusive alternatives, implausible distractors) and offers some suggestions for eliminating them when writing such tests. (MF)

This study explores the use of the modified caution index (MCI) for identifying judges whose patterns of recommendations suggest that their judgments might be based on incomplete information, flawed reasoning, or inattention to their standard-setting tasks. It also examines the effect on test standards and passing rates when the test standards of…

Appropriateness indexes (statistical formulas) for detecting suspiciously high or low scores on aptitude tests were presented, based on a simulation of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) with 3,000 simulated scores--2,800 normal and 200 suspicious. The traditional index--marginal probability--uses a model for the normal examinee's test-taking…

A situation in which computer-assisted instruction was combined with teacher-taught classes and computerized diagnostic adaptive testing was examined. The computerized diagnostic adaptive test for pre-algebra signed-number lessons was programmed along with a computer-managed routing system by which examinees were sent to the instructional unit…

The 168 items selected for administration to 7,905 17-year olds in 1976-77, were developed from existing National Assessment items and from existing sets of life/coping skills. Skills designated as basic included: career development; citizenship; community resource utilization; consumer protection; family management; health maintenance; and…