Sixty-five right- and left-handed preschool and school children were tested on three reach-to-grasp tasks of different levels of complexity, performed in three space locations. Our goal was to evaluate how the effect of attentional information related to object location interacts with task complexity and degree of handedness on children's hand…

To understand the difficulties that many students have with comprehension of mathematics, we must determine the cognitive functioning underlying the diversity of mathematical processes. What are the cognitive systems that are required to give access to mathematical objects? Are these systems common to all processes of knowledge or, on the…

People usually talk about "hot and cold" colours without really thinking of the impact these definitions may have on scientific understanding. These colours are associated with the human sensations of hot and cold, and this idea is consistent with commonsense and daily experience. Interacting with students, we detect conceptual conflicts when they…

When individuals are given tests that are too hard or too easy, the resulting scores are likely to be poor estimates of their performance. To get valid and accurate test scores that provide meaningful results, one should use functional-level testing (FLT). FLT is the practice of administering to an individual a version of a test with a difficulty…

Hierarchical Bayes procedures for the two-parameter logistic item response model were compared for estimating item parameters. Simulated data sets were analyzed using two different Bayes estimation procedures, the two-stage hierarchical Bayes estimation (HB2) and the marginal Bayesian with known hyperparameters (MB), and marginal maximum…

Item response theory (IRT) is based on the assumption that a direct relationship exists between an examinee's total performance on a set of items and the difficulty of each item on the test. The Rasch model represents this relationship mathematically on an equal interval scale. This paper argues that IRT, under the required conditions, provides…

A rating scale can be expressed as a chain of dichotomous items. The relationship between the dichotomies depends on the manner in which the rating scale is presented to the test taker. Three models for ordered scales are discussed. In the success model, which represents growth, the lowest or easiest category is presented first. If the test taker…

This paper presents a promising new item bias detection technique that derives practical appeal from its simplicity and economy, and provides data relating to the method's consistency across samples. The proposed regression on item characteristics (RIC) method is a straightforward and inexpensive approach to the study of item bias, based on…

This paper describes an approach to item analysis that is based on the estimation of a set of response curves for each item. The response curves show, at a glance, the difficulty and the discriminating power of the item and the popularity of each distractor, at any level of the criterion variable (e.g., total score). The curves are estimated by…

The problem of obtaining designs that result in the most precise parameter estimates is encountered in at least two situations where item response theory (IRT) models are used. In so-called two-stage testing procedures, certain designs that match difficulty levels of the test items with the ability of the examinees may be located. Such designs…

Recent comparisons (R. Freedle and I. Kostin, 1988) of differential item difficulty (DIF) have found that items that are in some way easier differentially give advantage to white examinees. In this study, the male/female ratio was manipulated among college students taking a social sciences examination to determine the effect of the male/female…

This report discusses the construct and criterion-related validity of the Nebraska Wisconsin Cognitive Assessment Battery (NEWCAB), on the basis of pooled regional data collected in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wisconsin on a 3-year longitudinal sample of 107 6-year-old, 141 7-year-old, and 160 8-year-old children. Designed to assess the cognitive…

An alternative definition has been developed of the delta scale of item difficulty used at Educational Testing Service. The traditional delta scale uses an inverse normal transformation based on normal ogive models developed years ago. However, no use is made of this fact in typical uses of item deltas. It is simply one way to make the probability…

There is growing evidence that the best way to prepare students to cope with authentic oral and written texts they will encounter in actual situations is to introduce such texts into the classroom as early as possible. The selection of texts appropriate for beginning students involves examination of the texts themselves and consideration of the…