title: Development of a new critical thinking test using item response theory.
abstract: The authors describe the initial development of the Wagner Assessment Test (WAT), an instrument designed to assess critical thinking, using the 5-faceted view popularized by the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA; G. B. Watson & E. M. Glaser, 1980). The WAT was designed to reduce the degree of successful guessing relative to the WGCTA by increasing the number of response alternatives (i.e., 80% of WGCTA items are 2-alternative, multiple-choice), a change that was hypothesized to result in more desirable test information and standard-error functions. Analyses using the 3-parameter logistic item response theory (IRT) model in a sample of undergraduates (N = 407) supported this prediction, even when the WAT item pool was shortened to match the length of the WGCTA. Convergent validity between full-pool IRT score estimates was r = .69. Implications for subsequent research on IRT-based measurement of critical thinking are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA. twagner@usouthal.edu
authors.forename: Teresa A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Harvey
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011582:Psychological Theory; D013850:Thinking