The increased efficiency effect threatens the validity of response-time models that presume item response time is influenced only by item time intensity, ability, and working speed¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · theoreticalr2·q1
Currency · newest study 2015 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2018: tool and model accuracy changes quickly
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q1 i? Whenever the increased efficiency effect is present to a material degree, it threatens the validity of models presuming item response time is systematically influenced only by item time intensity and the test taker's ability and working speed. → Steven Wise 2015
Evidence¶
Steven Wise 2015¶
Steven Wise. (2015). Response time as an indicator of test taker speed: assumptions meet reality. Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives, 13(3–4), 186–188. https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/response-time-as-an-indicator-of-test-taker-speed-assumptions-meet-reality doi:10.1080/15366367.2015.1105062
q1 · i? · theoretical · r2
Theoretical argument in the commentary: the increasing efficiency effect "appears to (at least sometimes) represent an additional systematic factor influencing response time", violating a core assumption of response-time-based psychometric models. No empirical test or effect size is reported.
"Whatever its nature, however, this increasing efficiency effect appears to (at least sometimes) represent an additional systematic factor influencing response time. And whenever this effect is present to a material degree, it threatens the validity of models that presume that item response time is systematically influenced only by item time intensity and the test taker's ability and working speed."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Computer-based testing's routine capture of item-level response times has driven increased interest in applications of response time to measuring ability and achievement — related
- The increased efficiency effect confounds attempts to exploit the speed-ability trade-off central to many response-time models — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
- Test takers tend to increase their time efficiency during MAP test events, an effect the author observed in data from 2 very different testing programs — related
- How commonly the increased efficiency effect is present in test data is unclear — related
- Processing speed measured with response times is better represented as four distinct cognitive processes (planning, attention, simultaneous, successive) than as a unitary speed factor — related
- Tests may appear to measure an ability while actually measuring an unintended one, such as speed of writing figures or attention — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
increased-efficiency-threatens-response-time-model-validity |
title |
The increased efficiency effect threatens the validity of response-time models that presume item response time is influenced only by item time intensity, ability, and working speed |
description |
The increased efficiency effect threatens the validity of response-time models that presume item response time is influenced only by item time intensity, ability, and working speed |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
weak |
newest_evidence |
2015 |
recheck_by |
2018 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-09 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — steven-wise-2015 |
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