Describe how computer adaptive testing works and how it is used in psychological measurement.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

CAT uses IRT to dynamically select each item from a large pool of items based on a candidate’s responses to previous items. In other words, tests are adapted to each individual and create a unique testing experience for each, which enhances the security of the assessment (Barney & Fisher, 2016; Kantrowitz, Dawson, & Fetzer, 2011). CAT seems particularly promising given the many creative methods cheaters try to use in attempting to obtain test items and share them with friends or even post them on social networking sites. Although CAT is a very promising test-administration approach, it is unlikely to address all types of cheating behavior. For example, even if CAT is used, when a test is administered in an unproctored manner, it is impossible to know whether the intended test taker or a smarter friend took the test (Kantrowitz et al., 2011).