Item Response Theory: Principles and Applications

In the decade of the 1970s, item response theory became the dominant topic for study by measurement specialists. But, the genesis of item response theory (IRT) can be traced back to the mid-thirties and early forties. In fact, the term "Item Characteristic Curve," which is one of the main IRT concepts, can be attributed to Ledyard Tucker in 1946. Despite these early research efforts, interest in item response theory lay dormant until the late 1960s and took a backseat to the emerging develo...