The choice of item difficulty in self-adapted testing

The difficulty level choices made by examinees during a self-adapted test w ere studied. A positive correlation between estimate ability and difficulty choice was found. The mean difficulty level selected by the examinees incr eased nonlinearly as the testing session progressed. Regression analyses sh owed that the best predictors of difficulty choice were examinee ability, d ifficulty of the previous item, and score on the previous item. Four strate gies for selecting difficulty levels were examined, and examinees were clas sified into subgroups based on the best-fitting strategy. The subgroups dif fered with regard to ability, pretest anxiety, number of items passed, and mean difficulty level chosen. The self-adapted test was found to reduce sta te anxiety for only some of the strategy groups.