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Thinking about thinking - thinking about measurement: a Rasch analysis of recursive thinking.
Ulrich Müller1, Willis F Overton
1Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, P. O. Box 3050, STN CSC, Victoria, BC V8W 3P5, Canada. emuelller@uvic.ca
Journal of Applied Measurement
|March 31, 2010
Summary
This study investigated recursive thinking measurement, finding it to be a single-dimensional construct. While initial analysis suggested syntactic features influenced item difficulty, further testing did not support this hypothesis.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Recursive thinking is crucial for complex cognition.
- Understanding the measurement properties of recursive thinking tasks is essential for accurate assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the dimensionality and hierarchical organization of a recursive thinking measure.
- To investigate factors influencing item difficulty in recursive thinking tasks.
Main Methods:
- Two studies utilized Rasch analysis to evaluate a recursive thinking task.
- Study 1 analyzed the original task, while Study 2 incorporated new items to test specific hypotheses.
Main Results:
- Rasch analysis in Study 1 supported the unidimensionality of the recursive thinking task.
- Item difficulty appeared influenced by embeddedness and syntactic features in Study 1.
- Study 2 confirmed unidimensionality but did not find evidence for syntactic features affecting item difficulty.
Conclusions:
- The recursive thinking measure demonstrates strong evidence for unidimensionality.
- Syntactic features do not appear to significantly influence item difficulty in this recursive thinking task.
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