An Application of Item Response Time: The Effort‐Moderated IRT Model

The validity of inferences based on achievement test scores is dependent on the amount of effort that examinees put forth while taking the test. With low‐stakes tests, for which this problem is particularly prevalent, there is a consequent need for psychometric models that can take into account differing levels of examinee effort. This article introduces the effort‐moderated IRT model, which incorporates item response time into proficiency estimation and item parameter estimation. In two studies of the effort‐moderated model when rapid guessing (i.e., reflecting low examinee effort) was present, one based on real data and the other on simulated data, the effort‐moderated model performed better than the standard 3PL model. Specifically, it was found that the effort‐moderated model (a) showed better model fit, (b) yielded more accurate item parameter estimates, (c) more accurately estimated test information, and (d) yielded proficiency estimates with higher convergent validity.