Polytomous adaptive classification testing: Effects of item pool size, test termination criterion and number of cutscores

Computer-adaptive classification tests focus on classifying respondents in different proficiency groups (e.g., for pass/fail decisions). To date, adaptive classification testing has been dominated by research on dichotomous response formats and classifications in two groups. This article extends this line of research to polytomous classification tests for two- and three-group scenarios (e.g., inferior, mediocre, and superior proficiencies). Results of two simulation experiments with generated and real responses (N = 2,000) to established personality scales of different length (12, 20, or 29 items) demonstrate that adaptive item presentations significantly reduce the number of items required to make such classification decisions while maintaining a consistent classification accuracy. Furthermore, the simulations highlight the importance of the selected test termination criterion, which has a significant impact on the average test length.