General chemistry tests from the Examinations Institute of the Division of Chemical Education of the American Chemical Society have been analyzed to identify factors that may influence how individual test items perform. In this paper, issues of item order (position within a set of items that comprise a test) and answer order (position of correct…

Reasons why there are few incentives for test publishers to make significant innovations in what is tested or how it is tested are given. A brief discussion of research on growth spurts in the brain, hemispheric differences, and other neurological phenomena is followed by a discussion of some conclusions drawn from this work. While skepticism is…

Theory and research regarding four levels of concept attainment and three uses of concepts as specified by the model of conceptual learning and development (CLD) are described. Subtests, utilizing three-dimensional stimuli, were developed to assess each level of attainment and each use of the concept equilateral triangle. The tests were…