When scaling psychological tests with methods of item response theory it is necessary to investigate to what extent the responses correspond to the model predictions. In addition to the statistical evaluation of item misfit, the question arises as to its practical significance. Although item removal is undesirable for several reasons, its…

Many psychological scales written in the Likert format include reverse worded (RW) items in order to control acquiescence bias. However, studies have shown that RW items often contaminate the factor structure of the scale by creating one or more method factors. The present study examines an alternative scale format, called the Expanded format,…

Individual differences in confidence judgments made by subjects on the accuracy of their answers to psychological test items were studied with 271 Australian college students. Findings suggest that confidence ratings, like the accuracy scores from the tests of human abilities, are stable and reliable measures of between-subjects variability. (SLD)

The advent of computers in educational and psychological measurement has lead to the need for algorithms for optimal assembly of tests from item banks. This paper reviews the literature on optimal test assembly and introduces the contributions to this report on the topic. Four different approaches to computerized test assembly are discussed:…

Describes a method for assessing the quality of translations based on item response theory (IRT). Results from the IRT technique with French and Chinese versions of a scale measuring individualism-collectivism for samples of 250 U.S., 357 French, and 290 Chinese undergraduates show how several biased items are detected. (SLD)

Item analysis data were collected for the Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test and Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test, from urban and rural Alberta (Canada) youngsters and Inuit youngsters from the Northwest Territories (Canada). Both tests were inadequate in individual item difficulty levels, suggesting the necessity of revising scoring systems and…