Prototype modeling vs. item response theory - A paradigm shift for measurement professionals

Abstract

In science, the usual research mode is to discover cause-and-effect mechanisms operating behind superficial reality. Aviation, for example, uses prototype modeling to develop improved aircraft from one generation to the next. In stark contrast to prototype modeling's search for causal mechanisms, assessment technologies remain dominated by probability strategies-which is why psychological assessment lags behind the hard sciences. A major difference in results exists between inferences produced through item response theory versus the cause-effect prototyping strategies of aerospace and other techno-savvy industries. Parallel to aerospace strategies, systems analysis of language, using prototype modeling strategies, provides an effective assessment technology. This paper shows how the result provides causal mechanisms easily employed for assessing, predicting and changing human performance in many contexts. © 2013.