Prepared under contract No. N00014-67-A-0113-0029

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited. Reproduction in whole or in part is permitted for any purpose of the United States Government. N~C- ~ F~~ l ·--r?, ·- · l Research to date on adaptive (sequential, branched, individualized, tailored, programmed, response-contingent) ability testing is reviewed and summarized, following a brief review of problems inherent in conventional indivi-dual and group approaches to ability measurernPnt. Hesearch reviewed includes empirical, simulation and tltPoretical studies of adaptive testing strategies. AdaptivP ~Lrate~ies identified in the literature include two-stage testing, and multistage tests. Multistage tests are differenti;tted into fixed branching models and variable branching modPis (in-cluding Bayesian and non-Bayesian strategies). llPst1lts of research using the various strategies and research approaches are compared and summarized, leading to the general conclu-sion that adaptive testing can considerably reduce testing time and at the same time yield scores of lllgher reliability and validity than conventional tests, undPr a numb•'r of cir-cumstances. A number of new psychometric prohl c'ms ra.i sPcl b~ adaptive testing are discussed, as.is the criterion problem in evaluating the utility of adaptive testing. ProbLt'ms of implementing adaptive testing in a pap! ' I ' dlHI penc i I modt', or using special testing machines ar~ ' reviehed; the advan-tages of computer-controlled adaptive test;1dmin:istration are described