Recent research has shown how the statistical bias in Rasch model difficulty estimates induced by guessing in multiple-choice items can be eliminated. Using vertical scaling of a high-profile national reading test, it is shown that the dominant effect of removing such bias is a nonlinear change in the unit of scale across the continuum. The…

There are many reasons to believe that open-ended (OE) and multiple-choice (MC) items elicit different cognitive demands of students. However, empirical evidence that supports this view is lacking. In this study, we investigated the reactions of test takers to an interactive assessment with immediate feedback and answer-revision opportunities for…

When missing values are present in item response data, there are a number of ways one might impute a correct or incorrect response to a multiple-choice item. There are significantly fewer methods for imputing the actual response option an examinee may have provided if he or she had not omitted the item either purposely or accidentally. This…

The generalized binomial test (GBT) and [omega] indices are the most recent methods suggested in the literature to detect answer copying behavior on multiple-choice tests. The [omega] index is one of the most studied indices, but there has not yet been a systematic simulation study for the GBT index. In addition, the effect of the ability levels…

Scores representing number of items right and self-perceptions were analyzed for a nonquantitative examination that was assembled into three forms. Multivariate ANCOVA revealed no significant effects for the cognitive measure. However, significant sex and sex x order effects were found for perceptions scores not parallel to those reported…

Alternate versions of Hutchinson's theory were compared, and one which implies the existence of partial knowledge was found to be better than one which implies that an appropriate measure of ability is obtained by applying the conventional correction for guessing. (Author/PN)

An age-dependent answer-selection sequence of answers on multiple-choice tests suggested by previous studies was supported using statistical rather than clinical means. Results with 2,810 students aged 88 months through 241 months given a reading comprehension test twice during a 5-month interval support the systematically connected age-dependent…