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Item Response Theory: Brief History, Common Models, and Extensions

  • Chapter
Handbook of Modern Item Response Theory

Abstract

Long experience with measurement instruments such as thermometers, yardsticks, and speedometers may have left the impression that measurement instruments are physical devices providing measurements that can be read directly off a numerical scale. This impression is certainly not valid for educational and psychological tests. A useful way to view a test is as a series of small experiments in which the tester records a vector of responses by the testee. These responses are not direct measurements, but provide the data from which measurements can be inferred.

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Authors
  1. Wim J. van der Linden
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  2. Ronald K. Hambleton
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Educational Sciences and Technology, University of Twente, 7500 AE, Enschede, Netherlands

    Wim J. van der Linden

  2. School of Education, University of Massachusetts, 01003, Amherst, MA, USA

    Ronald K. Hambleton

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van der Linden, W.J., Hambleton, R.K. (1997). Item Response Theory: Brief History, Common Models, and Extensions. In: van der Linden, W.J., Hambleton, R.K. (eds) Handbook of Modern Item Response Theory. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2691-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2691-6_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-2849-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-2691-6

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