The SAT Reading Task in Question: Reply to Freedle and Kostin

Abstract

In a previous issue of Psychological Science, we reported that test takers correctly answer many multiple-choice questions on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) reading task when the passages that normally accompany the questions are missing More important, we found a high correlation between performance with and performance without these passages (Katz, Blackburn, & Lautenschlager, 1991, Katz, Lautenschlager, Blackburn, & Harris, 1990) We concluded that factors having little to do with passage comprehension contribute substantially to performance on the task In a recent commentary, Freedle and Kostin (1994) argued otherwise Using reading items on the SAT and other college-entrance examinations, these authors (hereafter, FK) carried out stepwise regression analyses, apportioning into two groups 65 predictor variables, 46 passage and 19 question variables The question variables were assumed to measure non-passage factors The authors reported that passage variables contribute substantially to variance in item difficulty (sometimes more than 50%, depending on test and item selection), whereas question variables contribute little FK concluded that we have exaggerated the role of nonpassage factors on reading tests