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Embretson, Susan E.

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Construct Validity and Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment

2007 , Embretson, Susan E. , Yang, Xiangdong

Cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA) is increasingly a major focus in psychological and educational measurement. Instead of inferring a general response tendency or behavior consistency of an examinee over a target domain of measurement, diagnostic assessment results provide a detailed account of the underlying cognitive basis of the examinee's performance by mining the richer information that is afforded by specific response patterns.

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The Second Century of Ability Testing: Some Predictions and Speculations

2003 , Embretson, Susan E.

Dazzling changes in many areas, such as technology and communications, marked the 20th century—the first century of ability testing. Predictions about the second century of testing seem difficult in such a context. Yet, looking back to the turn of the last century, Kirkpatrick (1900) in his APA presidential address presented fundamental desiderata for ability testing (normative age standards, emphasis on culture-general tasks, simultaneous measurement of many persons, and adult ability measurement) that, in fact, guides major testing research even today. An overview of the last century shows that most fundamental principles in psychometrics and testing were available by 1930. With a few notable exceptions, the remainder of the last century of testing was devoted to applying or refining these principles. I predict that the same pattern will occur in this century of testing. Further developments in model-based measurement and cognitive psychology principles in testing, intermingled with technology, will guide ability testing throughout the next century. These changes, which I will elaborate in detail, include fundamental changes in test development procedures, the nature of the measuring tasks, aspects of ability that are measured, and types of interpretations given to ability.

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Cognitive Design Principles and the Successful Performer: A Study on Spatial Ability

1996 , Embretson, Susan E.

An important trend in educational measurement is the use of principles of cognitive psychology to design achievement and ability test items. Many studies show that manipulating the stimulus features of items influences the processes, strategies, and knowledge structures that are involved in solution. However, little is known about how cognitive design influences individual differences. That is, does applying cognitive design principles change the background skills and abilities that are associated with successful performance? This study compared the correlates of two spatial ability tests that used the same item type but different test design principles (cognitive design versus psychometric design). The results indicated differences in factorial complexity in the two tests; specifically, the impact of verbal abilities was substantially reduced by applying the cognitive design principles.

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The Implications of Processing Event Sequences for Theories of Analogical Reasoning

1979-01-01 , Embretson, Susan E. , Barnes, G. Michael

Sternberg (1977a, 1977b) has proposed a componential theory of information processing on analogies. The current study attempts convergent validation of the basic findings in verbal analogies by a method that is based on different underlying assumptions. Although the data were generally consistent with Sternberg's theory, the data indicated that application is better described by two separate events. Furthermore, the extent of individual differences in strategy models was so substantial that a higher level processing operation, such as control strategies, should be postulated, rather than to support a single-strategy model as characterizing analogy solving.

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Multicomponent Latent Trait Models for Complex Tasks

2006 , Embretson, Susan E. , Yang, Xiangdong

Contemporary views on cognitive theory (e.g., Sternberg and Perez, 2005) regard typical measurement tasks, such as ability and achievement test items, multidimensional, rather than unidimensional. Assessing the levels and the sources of multidimensionality in an item domain is important for item selection as well as for item revision and development. In this paper, multicomponent latent trait models (MLTM) and traditional multidimensional item response theory models are described mathematically and compared for the nature of the dimensions that can be estimated. Then, sonic applications are presented to provide examples of MLTM. Last, practical estimation procedures are described, along with syntax, for the estimation of MLTM and a related model.

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Improving Construct Validity with Cognitive Psychology Principles

2001 , Embretson, Susan E. , Gorin, Joanna

Cognitive psychology principles have been heralded as possibly central to construct validity. In this paper, testing practices are examined in three stages: (a) the past, in which the traditional testing research paradigm left little role for cognitive psychology principles, (b) the present, in which testing research is enhanced by cognitive psychology principles, and (c) the future, for which we predict that cognitive psychology's potential will be fully realized through item design. An extended example of item design by cognitive theory is given to illustrate the principles. A spatial ability test that consists of an object assembly task highlights how cognitive design principles can lead to item generation.

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Measuring and Validating Cognitive Modifiability as an Ability: A Study in the Spatial Domain

1992 , Embretson, Susan E.

Measuring cognitive modifiability from the responsiveness of an individual's performance to intervention has long been viewed (e.g., Dearborne, 1921) as an alternative to traditional (static) ability measurement. Currently, dynamic testing in which cues or instruction are presented with ability test items, is a popular method for assessing cognitive modifiability. Despite the long-standing interest, however, little data exists to support the validity of cognitive modifiability measures in any ability domain. Several special methodological difficulties have limited validity studies, including psychometric problems in measuring modifiability (i.e., as change), lack of appropriate validation criteria, and difficulty in linking modifiability to cognitive theory. In this article, relatively new developments for solving the validation problems are applied to measuring and validating spatial modifiability. Criterion-related validity for predicting learning in an applied knowledge domain, as well as construct validity, is supported.

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Measuring Human Intelligence with Artificial Intelligence

2004 , Embretson, Susan E.

Adaptive item generation may be the next innovation in intelligence testing. In adaptive item generation, the optimally informative item is developed anew for the examinee during the test. Reminiscent of computer versus person chess games, the computer generates the next item based on the previous pattern of the examinee's responses. Adaptive item generation requires the merger of two lines of research, psychometric methods for adaptive testing and a cognitive analysis of items.

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Psychometric Approaches to Understanding and Measuring Intelligence

2000 , Embretson, Susan E. , McCollam, Karen M. Schmidt

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Problem Restructuring Processes for Ill-Structured Verbal Analogies

1981 , Barnes, G. Michael , Embretson, Susan E.

The processes involved in analogy solving have been an important investigative area in cognitive psychology. Although problem restructuring has been a central construct in problem solving theory, no restructuring processes have been proposed for analogical reasoning. Yet, the stimulus terms for analogies, as they appear on ability tests, are often ill-structured. That is, they are ordered in a way that does not permit direct problem comprehension. In the current study, both perceptual and semantic problem restructuring processes were hypothesized for analogy solving. The independence, stage of execution, and susceptibility to strategic control of the two processes were examined. The results from two experiments indicated that (1) ill-structured analogies are restructured during problem solving, (2) perceptual and semantic restructuring processes are independent and executed at different stages of analogy solving, and (3) both processes exhibited automaticity since repetition of analogy solution attenuated but did not eliminate either restructuring process. A model of analogical reasoning that incorporated both restructuring processes and their execution sequences was proposed. The nature and automaticity of perceptual and semantic analogy restructuring processes were discussed.

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