ABSTRACT
For a number of years the dominant point of view in test theory has been one where there were continuous true scores measured at the interval level and stochastic models that related those true scores to the dichotomous item responses that are directly observed. This point of view culminates in what has come to be called item response theory, and there would be few who would quarrel with the statement that Fred Lord, whom this volume honors, has been the central figure in bringing to fruition that kind of test theory, and there would be equally few who would denigrate the practical achievements of that kind of theory. The recent book by Lord (1980) demonstrates the intellectual and practical achievements.
