CATo software

Computerized Adaptive Testing optimized

The goal of the CATo Project is to create a user-friendly and understandable application for building and administration of adaptive tests. In the current stage of development the software is capable of working with dichotomously-scored items and it has one-, two-, and three-parameters IRT models implemented. It is planned to add a module for administration of tests with polytomous items.

The work on the CATo software started in the Institute of Psychology in 2005.

Current status: working on a multiplatform (Mac, Windows, Linux) computing library featuring binary models and polytomous GRM model.

Key Features:

Item Banks

Content-balancing
Defining of items' characteristics and contents
Innovative items

Adaptive administration

Type of test-start
Type of choosing adequate items
Type of test-end (sufficient precision of estimation, screening, maximum test-length)

Results and outcomes

Comprehensive reports of the administration run (ordered set of items, answers, trait estimation a respective error)
MS Excel datafile format
Real data simmulations

Hardware requirements:

400 Mhz processor
128 MB RAM
Microsoft Windows 9x/XP platform

Published papers and presentations:

Jelínek, M., Květon, P., Vobořil, D. (2011). Testování v psychologii: teorie odpovědi na položku a počítačové adaptivní testování [Testing in Psychology: Item Response Theory and Computerized Adaptive Testing]. Praha: Grada. [Information at Google Books]

Jelínek, M., Květon, P., Vobořil, D. (2011). Adaptivní administrace NEO PI-R: výhody a omezení [Adaptive administration of NEO PI-R: benefits and limitations]. Československá psychologie, 1 (55), 69-81.

Květon, P., Jelínek, M., Denglerová, D., Vobořil, D. (2008). Software pro adaptivní testování: CAT v praxi [Software for adaptive testing: CAT in action]. Československá psychologie, 2 (52), 145-154. [fulltext v PDF - article in Czech]

Software CATo - testování osobnostních charakteristik [Software CATo - testing personality characteristics]. Multimediální prezentace na konferenci Sociální procesy a osobnost, Telč 2007. [AVI video format - Czech]

Jelínek, M., Květon, P., Denglerová, D. (2006). Adaptivní testování - základní pojmy a principy [Adaptive testing - basic concepts and principles]. Československá psychologie, 2 (50), 163-173.