Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40045064›Full record

ArticleBehavior research methods2025

Polytomous explanatory item response models for item discrimination: Assessing negative-framing effects in social-emotional learning surveys.

Joshua B Gilbert, Lijin Zhang, Esther Ulitzsch, Benjamin W Domingue

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Article in Behavior research methods, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Joshua B GilbertHarvard University Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA, USA. joshua_gilbert@g.harvard.edu.ORCID 0000-0003-3496-2710
Lijin ZhangStanford University Graduate School of Education, Stanford, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4222-8850
Esther UlitzschCentre for Educational Measurement (CEMO), University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-9267-8542
Benjamin W DomingueStanford University Graduate School of Education, Stanford, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3894-9049

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Modeling item parameters as a function of item characteristics has a long history but has generally focused on models for item location. Explanatory item response models for item discrimination are available but rarely used. In this study, we extend existing approaches for modeling item discrimination from dichotomous to polytomous item responses. We illustrate our proposed approach with an application to four social-emotional learning surveys of preschool children to investigate how item discrimination depends on whether an item is positively or negatively framed. Negative framing predicts significantly lower item discrimination on two of the four surveys, and a plausibly causal estimate from a regression discontinuity analysis shows that negative framing reduces discrimination by about 30% on one survey. We conclude with a discussion of potential applications of explanatory models for item discrimination.

Indexed as

EmotionsLearningModels, StatisticalSocial LearningChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansMaleSurveys and QuestionnairesExplanatory item response modelGraded response modelItem discriminationItem response theoryItem wording effectsPsychometrics

Identifiers

PMID40045064

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.