Cognitive Processing Determinants of Item Difficulty on the Verbal Subtests of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to identify the cognitive processing operations, stores, and strategies involved in performance on the verbal subtests of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) 8/9/10. The project was conducted in two parts. The research began with a review of recent work in verbal information processing. A model of verbal performance was developed as a conceptual framework for identifying and operationalizing processing components. Theoretical and operational definitions were drafted for cognitive processes thought to underlie performance on the ASVAB Word Knowledge (WK) and Paragraph Comprehension (PC) subtests. The operational definitions were used to rate the WK and PC items on two ASVAB forms. In Part two, item response data were modeled for eight groups Fiscal Year 1981 Army applicants and accessions using Rasch and Linear Logistic Latent Trait (LLLT) methods. The relative effects of the operationalized verbal processes on item difficulty were determined using the LLLT algorithms.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 1983
Accession Number
ADA148237

Entities

People

  • Karen J. Mitchell

Organizations

  • U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Army Training
  • Coding
  • Cognition
  • Comprehension
  • Decoding
  • Information Processing
  • Maximum Likelihood Estimation
  • Military Personnel
  • Military Research
  • New Jersey
  • Personnel Management
  • Probability
  • Psychology
  • Reasoning
  • Social Sciences
  • Students
  • Training

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  • Organizational Process Management (OPM).
  • Psychometric Testing or Psychological Assessment.