Open AccessWAS THERE ONE DISTRACTOR TOO MANY?
Author(s) -
Wainer Howard,
Wadkins J. R. Jefferson,
Rogers Alfred
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
ets research report series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.235
H-Index - 5
ISSN - 2330-8516
DOI - 10.1002/j.2330-8516.1983.tb00034.x
Subject(s) - frame (networking) , psychology , frame of reference , mathematical statistics , item response theory , computer science , cognitive psychology , econometrics , statistics , psychometrics , mathematics , developmental psychology , telecommunications , physics , quantum mechanics
A mathematical item on the SAT – the Rolling Circle Problem – was found to be faulty. This paper reports a detailed investigation into its mathematical and psychometric properties. In addition to examining performance of the item with more than 100,000 examinees, two small studies were performed with the aid of a physical model of the problem. It was found that the problem could be considered ambiguous due to the nonspecification of the frame of reference, but that almost no one noticed this lack.