Component Latent Trait Models for Paragraph Comprehension Tests

Abstract

The cognitive characteristics of paragraph compre hension items were studied by comparing models that deal with two general processing stages: text represen tation and response decision. The models that were compared included the prepositional structure of the text (Kintsch & van Dijk, 1978), various counts of surface structure variables and word frequency (Drum et al., 1981), a taxonomy of levels of text questions (Anderson, 1972), and some new models that combine features of these models. Calibrations from the linear logistic latent trait model allowed evaluation of the impact of the cognitive variables on item responses. The results indicate that successful prediction of item difficulty is obtained from models with wide represen tation of both text and decision processing. This sug gests that items can be screened for processing diffi culty prior to being administered to examinees. However, the results also have important implications for test validity in that the two processing stages in volve two different ability dimensions.