The Influence Of Cognitive Style On Response Time In Adaptive Testing

Instructional evaluation is one of the most important parts of teaching process,and paper-and-pencil test is still the mainstream of the large-scale exam.However,with the developments of measurement theory and computer technology,the conventional linear test with fixed item sequence couldn't meet people's requirement for accuracy and reliability of test.The computerized adaptive testing,which is based on the item response theory,could avoid the defects of conventional test,and reflect the examinee's true ability level to the greatest extent.After the design procedure,not only can the ability level be obtained,but also the item response time could be recorded in computerized adaptive testing system.In addition,the individual differences are attracting huge attention.It is meaningful to discuss whether the performances of different examinees could reflect their personality characteristics or not.This study chooses reflective-Impulsive cognitive style as one of the research variables,which is related with the speed of solving problems.The influence of reflective-impulsive cognitive style on item response time in computerized adaptive testing is researched and the mediating effect of individuals' ability levels on the relationship of the cognitive style and response time is verified.Meanwhile,this study increases the success probability of the maximum-information item selection rule to research whether there would be some differences from the classical item selection rule when testing the influence mechanism.So,the bank is established to test the knowledge of probability theory and mathematical statistics.And two computerized adaptive testing systems are developed,which could record the ability values as well as the average item response time when the success probability is 50% or 70%.Reflective-impulsive cognitive style is measured with the Matching Familiar Figures Test-20 presented on the computer screen.And examinees whose cognitive style is either reflection or impulsivity take part in the adaptive testing.The results show that reflective-impulsive cognitive style not only has direct relationship with item response time but also affects ability level no matter that the success probability is 50% or70% in computerized adaptive testing.The response times of reflective examinees are longer than the impulsive examinees,but their accuracy are higher than the impulsivity.And only when the success probability is 50%,the item response time of the high ability examinees is significantly longer than the low ability examinees'.Therefore,when the success probability is70% there is the direct effect of reflective-impulsive cognitive style on item response time,but the ability values are not mediator variable.Through the mediation analysis,the results shows that that ability value of the examinee is a partly mediator in the relationship between reflective-impulsive cognitive style and item response time.The computerized adaptive testing system developed in this study could record the response time,which can provide references for the development of other subsidiary functions.According to the research conclusion,it is reasonable to remind the examinees who belongs to impulsivity to make their decisions after careful considerations and remind the reflective examinees to pay attention to the item response time.It can not only help impulsive individuals to overcome the limitations of holistic information processing method to show their real ability levels,but also reduce the average item response time of the reflective examinees to some extent,which could improve the test economy.So,an interactive and cognitive style-friendly test environment could be established in computerized adaptive testing.