We discuss an application of Bayesian factor analysis for estimation of the optimal linear combination and associated maximal reliability of a multi-component measuring instrument. The described procedure yields point and credibility interval estimates of this reliability coefficient, which are readily obtained in educational and behavioral…

The product Bayes factor (PBF) synthesizes evidence for an informative hypothesis across heterogeneous replication studies. It can be used when fixed- or random effects meta-analysis fall short. For example, when effect sizes are incomparable and cannot be pooled, or when studies diverge significantly in the populations, study designs, and…

To mitigate the potential damaging consequences of rapid guessing (RG), a form of noneffortful responding, researchers have proposed a number of scoring approaches. The present simulation study examines the robustness of the most popular of these approaches, the unidimensional effort-moderated (EM) scoring procedure, to multidimensional RG (i.e.,…

Bayesian Knowledge Tracing (BKT) is a well-established model for formative assessment, with optimization typically using expectation maximization, conjugate gradient descent, or brute force search. However, one of the flaws of existing optimization techniques for BKT models is convergence to undesirable local minima that negatively impact…

Careless and insufficient effort responding (C/IER) is a situation where participants respond to survey instruments without considering the item content. This phenomena adds noise to data leading to erroneous inference. There are multiple approaches to identifying and accounting for C/IER in survey settings, of these approaches the best performing…

When cognitive and educational tests are administered under time limits, tests may become speeded and this may affect the reliability and validity of the resulting test scores. Prior research has shown that time limits may create or enlarge gender gaps in cognitive and academic testing. On average, women complete fewer items than men when a test…

The computerized adaptive tests (CAT) apply an adaptive process in which the items are tailored to individuals' ability scores. The multidimensional CAT (MCAT) designs differ in terms of different item selection, ability estimation, and termination methods being used. This study aims at investigating the performance of the MCAT designs used to…

This cross-sectional study established the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS) and an index of empathy in a sample of Swedish four to six year olds (N = 115). Using Bayesian structural equation modeling, we found that a five-factor PKBS and one-factor empathy model provided good fit…

Purpose: A Bayesian adaptive procedure, that is, the quick auditory filter (qAF) procedure, has been shown to improve the efficiency for estimating auditory filter shapes of listeners with normal hearing. The current study evaluates the accuracy and test-retest reliability of the qAF procedure for naïve listeners with a variety of ages and hearing…

The evaluation of learning in mathematics is a worldwide problem, therefore, new methods are required to assess the understanding of mathematical concepts. In this paper, we propose to use the Item Response Theory to analyze the understanding level of undergraduate students about the real function mathematical concept. The Bayesian approach was…

Purpose: This study introduces a framework to produce very short versions of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs) by combining the Bayesian-inspired approach introduced by Mayor and Mani (2019) with an item response theory-based computerized adaptive testing that adapts to the ability of each child, in line with…

Abilities in scientific thinking and reasoning have been emphasized as core areas of initiatives, such as the Next Generation Science Standards or the College Board Standards for College Success in Science, which focus on the skills the future will demand of today's students. Although there is rich literature on studies of how these abilities…

The 1961 Copyright Office study on renewals, authored by Barbara Ringer, has cast an outsized influence on discussions of the U.S. 1923-1963 public domain. As more concrete data emerge from initiatives such as the large-scale determination process in the Copyright Review Management System (CRMS) project, questions are raised about the reliability…

This study reports on the national standardization and validation of the Learning Behaviors Scale (LBS) for use in Trinidad and Tobago. The LBS is a teacher rating scale centering on observable behaviors relevant to identifying childhood approaches to classroom learning. Teachers observed a stratified sample of 900 students across the islands'…

As an assessment method based on a constructivist approach, peer assessment has become popular in recent years. However, in peer assessment, a problem remains that reliability depends on the rater characteristics. For this reason, some item response models that incorporate rater parameters have been proposed. Those models are expected to improve…