Response Latency: An Investigation into Determinants of Item-Level Timing.

Response latency information has been used in the past to provide information for consideration along with response accuracy when obtaining trait level estimates, and more recently, to flag unusual response patterns, to establish appropriate time-to-test limits (Reese, 1993), and to determine predictors of the amount of time needed to administer a given item (Gershon, Bergstrom, & Lunz, 1993). Data for this research were obtained from administration of an adaptive college mathematics placement test to 3,364 examinees. This study investigated item and examinee variables as potential influences of item-level response time. The item variables in this study were presentation order in the test, content classification, and cognitive classification. Examinee variables consisted of estimated ability, average rate of response, gender, ethnicity, age. The examinee-item variables were conditional probability and correctness of response. Results were analyzed through a series of regression models to ascertain the variables that function as the strongest determinants of item latency. There are six tables and three figures. (Contains 14 references.) (Author/SLD)