A theoretical parallel between cognitive and biological development with potential implications for measurement in psychology

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-438
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Humphry
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Item Response ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Response Model ◽  
Item Response Model ◽  
Julian Huxley ◽  
Testing Theory ◽  
Analysis And Synthesis ◽  
Biological Development

This article identifies a formal parallel between quantitative analysis of cognitive and biological development based on work by Georg Rasch in psychometrics and Julian Huxley in biology. The analysis and synthesis results in an interpretation of the parameters of Rasch’s item response model whereby increases in latent cognitive development manifest as exponential increases in performance odds. This relationship directly parallels a relationship between biological development and its manifestation in weight, termed simple allometry. Attainment data analysed by Rasch were shown to exhibit a simple allometry. It is shown that the formal theoretical parallel may have applications for formulating and testing theory regarding cognitive development. Such tests may have implications for establishing a substantive basis for the measurement of cognitive abilities.

scholarly journals Extensions of the skew-normal ogive item response model

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Luis Bazán ◽  
Márcia D. Branco ◽  
Heleno Bolfarine
Keyword(s):  
Item Response ◽  
Response Model ◽  
Item Response Model ◽  
Skew Normal

Are Teachers' Unions Really to Blame? Collective Bargaining Agreements and Their Relationships with District Resource Allocation and Student Performance in California

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 354-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharine O. Strunk
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Item Response ◽  
Response Model ◽  
Item Response Model ◽  
Teachers Unions ◽  
Achievement Growth ◽  
Unique Measure ◽  
Level Student

Increased spending and decreased student performance have been attributed in part to teachers' unions and to the collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) they negotiate with school boards. However, only recently have researchers begun to examine impacts of specific aspects of CBAs on student and district outcomes. This article uses a unique measure of contract restrictiveness generated through the use of a partial independence item response model to examine the relationships between CBA strength and district spending on multiple areas and district-level student performance in California. I find that districts with more restrictive contracts have higher spending overall, but that this spending appears not to be driven by greater compensation for teachers but by greater expenditures on administrators' compensation and instruction-related spending. Although districts with stronger CBAs spend more overall and on these categories, they spend less on books and supplies and on school board–related expenditures. In addition, I find that contract restrictiveness is associated with lower average student performance, although not with decreased achievement growth.

Psychology of Computer Use: VIII. Utilizing a Nonparametric Item Response Model to Develop Unidimensional Scales: Mokscal

1989 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 987-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Tenvergert ◽  
Johannes Kingma ◽  
Terry Taerum
Keyword(s):  
Item Response ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Functional Form ◽  
Search Procedure ◽  
Response Model ◽  
Scale Analysis ◽  
Item Response Model ◽  
Goodness Of Fit Test ◽  
Item Coefficient ◽  
Nonparametric Item Response

MOKSCAL is a program for the Mokken (1971) scale analysis based on a nonparametric item response model that makes no assumptions about the functional form of the item trace lines. The only constraint the Mokken model puts on the trace lines is the assumption of double monotony; that is, the item trace lines must be nondecreasing and the lines are not allowed to cross. MOKSCAL provides three procedures of scaling: a search procedure, an evaluation of the whole set of items, and an extension of an existing scale. All procedures provide a coefficient of scalability for all items that meet the criteria of the Mokken model and an item coefficient of scalability of every item. A test of robustness of the found scale can be performed to analyze whether the scale is invariant across different subgroups or samples. This robustness test may serve as a goodness-of-fit test for the established scale. The program is written in FORTRAN 77 and is suitable for both mainframe and microcomputers.

scholarly journals Linking Item Response Model Parameters

Psychometrika ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 650-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim J. van der Linden ◽  
Michelle D. Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Item Response ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Response Model ◽  
Item Response Model
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