Modeling Pacing Behavior and Test Speededness Using Latent Growth Curve Models

Abstract

This research explores the usefulness of latent growth curve modeling in the study of pacing behavior and test speededness. Examinee response times from a high-stakes, computerized examination, collected before and after the examination was subjected to a timing change, were analyzed using a series of latent growth curve models to detect identifiable patterns of examinee pacing behavior. To help explain how examinees progress through the examination, the influences of two important predictor variables were tested: examinees’ native language and overall proficiency. Results illustrate how group-specific changes in the relationship between proficiency and response times and a phase-specific interaction effect would have gone unnoticed if a longitudinal perspective had not been used. The findings suggest that growth curve modeling is a useful tool for modeling change in test speed as a continuous process.