Herein we suggest a mobile robot-training algorithm that is based on the preference approximation of the decision taker who controls the robot, which in its turn is managed by the Markov chain. Set-up of the model parameters is made on the basis of the data referring to the situations and decisions involving the decision taker. The model that adapts to the decision taker's preferences can be se...

Introduction In recent decades, large-scale English language proficiency testing and testing research have seen an increased interest in constructed-response essay-writing items (Aschbacher, 1991; Powers, Burstein, Chodorow, Fowles, & Kukich, 2001; Weigle, 2002). The TOEFL iBT, for example, includes two constructed-response writing tasks, one of which is an integrative task requiring the test-t...

In electronic anonymity markets a taker seeks a specified number of market makers in order to anonymize a transaction or activity. This process requires both coalition formation, in order to create an anonymity set among the taker and makers, and the derivation of the fee that the taker pays each maker. The process has a novel property in that the taker pays for anonymity but anonymity is creat...

Technology-based, interactive test questions are common in large-scale assessments, yet how alternative question formats influence test-taker cognition is not well understood. In a series of studies, we investigated test-taker performance on isomorphic questions using alternative presentation layouts and modes of responding. Adult participants solved math problems in three formats, each of whic...

Conversations with computer agents can be used to measure skills that may be difficult to accomplish using traditional multiple-choice assessments. In order to achieve natural conversations in this form of assessment, we are exploring issues related to how test-takers interact with computer agents, such as what dialogue moves lead to interpretable responses, the influence of “cognitive characte...

Starting from McCarthy’s seminal proposal for the construction of an advice-taking machine, we show how tools from abstract argumentation and computational learning can help disambiguate and formalize that goal. Our focus is on establishing provable guarantees on the realizability of the advice taker, and on implementing an actual prototype system.

AANA Journal  August 2016  Vol. 84, No. 4 239 Competency in healthcare practice has become a priority for sustaining the goals of quality and safety in patient care delivery. Evaluating maintenance of competency for practitioners beyond their initial licensure and credentialing has become a topic of focus in recent years. A systematic review was conducted to evaluate testing as a method of as...

Survey elicitation of consumer preferences for product attributes where survey-taker inattention bias exists can lead to irrational choices. Survey-taker measures, such as screen reading time, be confounded by repeat purchasers taking the survey. This study estimates willingness pay (WTP) farmstead milk attributes, including pasteurization type (VAT, HTST, Ultra), packaging (plastic, paper, gla...

We describe a study aimed at measuring the use of factual information in test-taker essays and assessing its effectiveness for predicting essay scores. We found medium correlations with the proposed measures, that remained significant after the effect of essay length was factored out. The correlations did not differ substantionally between a simple, relatively robust measure vs a more sophistic...