Assessing Sources of Cognitive Complex for Verbal Analogical Reasoning Items

• In Event: Enhancing Validity and Reliability in Educational Measurement and Assessments

Abstract

This study establishes the link between stimulus characteristics of verbal analogy reasoning tasks and cognitive processing, providing a deep-level explanation of the mechanisms that influence item difficulty. Based on the features of verbal analogy tasks, it constructs a model to assess their difficulty. Study 1 measured the core stimulus feature of analogy relationships and constructed a scale for reasoning difficulty. Building on Study 1, Study 2 integrated effective stimulus characteristics to develop an explanatory and predictive model for addressing the difficulty of verbal analogy tasks. Since most stimulus features can be encoded using computers, this research has practical implications for task design, automated item generation, and cognitive guidance.

Authors

• qing chen, East China Normal University

• Xiangdong Yang, East China Normal University