Uncovering the Complexity of Item Position Effects in a Low-Stakes Testing Context

Abstract

Previous researchers have only either adopted an item or examinee perspective to position effects, where they focused on exploring the relationships among position effects and item or examinee variables separately. Unlike previous researchers, we adopted an integrated perspective to position effects, where we focused on exploring the relationships among position effects, item variables, and examinee variables simultaneously. We evaluated the degree to which position effects on two separate low-stakes tests administered to two different samples were moderated by different item (item length, number of response options, mental taxation, and graphic) and examinee (effort, change in effort, and gender) variables. Items exhibited significant negative linear position effects on both tests, with the magnitude of the position effects varying from item to item. Longer items were more prone to position effects than shorter items; however, the level of mental taxation required to answer the item, the presence of a graphic, and the number of response options were not related to position effects. Examinee effort levels, change in effort patterns, and gender did not moderate the relationships among position effects and item features.