Table 5.

Comparison of response accuracy and estimated IRT parameters across five cohorts. Column % indicates how frequently each name was correctly selected as an author, α indicates the level of discrimination of individual ability each name provides, while β indicates the difficulty of correctly selecting each name

No.	Author Name	University, English L1			University, English L2			University, ESL			College, English L1			College, English L2
		%	α	β	%	α	β	%	α	β	%	α	β	%	α	β
1	Stephen King	89.89	1.17	−2.43	58.14	1.33	−0.50	25.42	1.16	1.00	78.80	0.74	−2.15	42.47	0.88	0.33
2	F. Scott Fitzgerald	84.52	0.96	−2.21	53.49	1.83	−0.30	35.03	0.81	0.72	54.77	1.48	−0.38	27.85	1.49	0.81
3	Margaret Atwood	83.23	0.64	−2.85	49.61	1.90	−0.17	19.77	1.67	1.04	43.11	2.19	0.00	16.89	1.42	1.44
4	Harper Lee	79.78	0.94	−1.84	54.26	1.40	−0.34	25.99	1.48	0.81	45.94	1.23	−0.03	25.11	1.14	1.13
5	Ernest Hemingway	78.92	0.84	−1.93	47.67	1.45	−0.09	35.59	0.81	0.69	42.40	1.71	0.05	17.35	1.67	1.28
6	George Orwell	69.03	1.20	−0.98	52.71	1.48	−0.28	20.34	2.26	0.85	50.18	1.77	−0.21	36.53	0.91	0.65
7	J. R. R. Tolkien	69.03	0.77	−1.31	49.22	1.73	−0.16	42.94	1.18	0.16	60.78	1.23	−0.65	31.05	1.49	0.67
8	Virginia Woolf	67.96	1.04	−1.01	39.53	1.65	0.19	38.98	1.14	0.34	31.45	2.35	0.35	11.87	1.76	1.61
9	E. B. White	61.51	1.04	−0.68	35.27	1.14	0.50	33.33	1.17	0.59	34.98	1.64	0.33	21.46	1.59	1.09
10	T.S. Elliot	61.08	0.93	−0.71	41.86	1.31	0.15	27.12	1.10	0.95	40.28	2.03	0.10	30.59	1.70	0.64
11	James Patterson	58.71	1.30	−0.49	34.11	1.51	0.43	17.51	1.53	1.22	41.70	1.54	0.10	19.63	1.30	1.35
12	J. D. Salinger	57.63	1.42	−0.42	43.80	1.40	0.06	40.11	1.02	0.33	39.58	1.86	0.13	21.92	1.64	1.04
13	Maya Angelou	50.97	1.44	−0.17	33.72	1.51	0.45	15.82	2.21	1.08	19.79	2.07	0.85	15.07	1.92	1.32
14	William Faulkner	47.31	1.93	−0.03	25.97	2.22	0.61	29.38	1.71	0.59	23.32	1.92	0.73	14.61	1.56	1.52
15	Tom Clancy	47.10	0.97	0.00	28.68	1.88	0.57	19.21	2.35	0.88	49.82	1.16	−0.19	18.26	1.62	1.25
16	Danielle Steel	41.72	1.20	0.22	23.26	2.49	0.68	16.38	1.97	1.11	34.28	1.69	0.34	19.63	1.95	1.06
17	Thomas Wolfe	40.86	1.10	0.28	27.91	1.17	0.86	18.08	2.28	0.95	27.92	2.54	0.45	12.33	1.78	1.57
18	Ray Bradbury	38.92	1.54	0.28	25.58	1.35	0.89	24.29	1.95	0.75	19.08	2.61	0.77	10.96	2.55	1.43
19	Samuel Beckett	36.99	1.93	0.30	21.71	2.70	0.72	14.69	2.33	1.11	20.85	2.29	0.75	13.70	1.72	1.50
20	Kurt Vonnegut	35.48	1.67	0.39	24.81	2.18	0.67	26.55	1.54	0.76	14.84	2.57	0.98	9.59	2.54	1.53
21	John Grisham	35.27	1.64	0.40	18.60	2.47	0.90	21.47	1.32	1.12	26.86	2.40	0.50	17.81	1.91	1.17
22	James Joyce	34.41	1.53	0.45	24.42	2.17	0.69	22.60	2.34	0.74	19.08	2.21	0.84	10.96	1.94	1.60
23	Toni Morrison	32.90	1.20	0.61	26.36	1.40	0.82	24.86	1.98	0.72	16.25	3.00	0.84	15.53	1.69	1.39
24	Gabriel Garcia Marquez	31.18	1.97	0.50	23.64	1.88	0.78	20.90	1.29	1.17	9.54	5.40	1.01	13.70	1.36	1.72
25	Vladimir Nabokov	28.17	1.57	0.69	22.87	2.56	0.69	19.21	2.38	0.88	17.31	2.54	0.86	14.61	2.14	1.28
26	Isaac Asimov	27.31	1.87	0.66	20.93	2.54	0.78	18.64	1.92	1.01	16.96	3.13	0.79	14.16	2.36	1.26
27	Anne McCaffrey	27.10	1.19	0.90	20.54	1.57	1.05	25.99	1.21	0.94	17.31	2.14	0.95	13.24	2.70	1.25
28	Ayn Rand	26.45	1.67	0.74	18.99	2.14	0.95	16.95	2.92	0.90	19.79	2.66	0.73	10.05	3.04	1.41
29	Sue Grafton	25.16	1.75	0.77	16.28	2.41	1.03	18.08	2.03	1.01	14.13	2.66	1.00	10.50	2.09	1.59
30	Nora Ephron	24.30	2.23	0.71	17.83	2.13	1.01	14.69	1.85	1.25	13.07	3.12	0.99	11.42	1.67	1.70
31	Judith Krantz	23.01	1.91	0.83	13.18	1.34	1.72	20.34	1.15	1.31	9.54	3.02	1.25	10.05	2.08	1.63
32	Ralph Ellison	23.01	2.09	0.79	22.09	1.68	0.92	24.86	1.13	1.05	11.66	2.20	1.28	13.70	1.67	1.52
33	Michael Ondaatje	22.37	2.09	0.81	17.83	2.84	0.88	19.21	1.61	1.09	10.60	3.93	1.05	10.50	2.62	1.44
34	Raymond Chandler	22.37	1.77	0.89	13.57	1.96	1.34	18.08	1.78	1.09	14.84	3.37	0.87	12.79	1.97	1.46
35	Salman Rushdie	22.37	1.44	1.01	18.60	1.98	1.01	26.55	1.53	0.76	11.66	3.33	1.05	12.33	1.62	1.65
36	Jack London	21.29	2.28	0.82	17.44	1.60	1.23	25.42	1.75	0.75	16.61	3.40	0.78	12.33	1.77	1.57
37	Joyce Carol Oates	20.43	2.50	0.82	16.28	1.84	1.19	14.12	2.02	1.23	15.19	3.47	0.84	12.33	2.79	1.29
38	Kazuo Ishiguro	20.00	1.75	1.01	17.44	1.98	1.08	12.99	1.99	1.31	9.89	4.00	1.09	7.76	1.83	1.96
39	Robert Ludlum	19.14	2.16	0.94	17.44	2.25	1.00	16.38	2.16	1.06	15.90	3.67	0.79	10.96	2.79	1.38
40	Clive Cussler	18.28	1.70	1.11	18.22	1.73	1.12	24.29	1.81	0.78	19.08	2.95	0.72	9.59	3.95	1.35
41	Isabel Allende	17.85	2.22	0.98	16.28	2.60	1.00	23.16	1.55	0.92	9.19	2.70	1.35	9.59	2.13	1.65
42	Willa Cather	16.13	2.72	0.98	12.02	2.01	1.44	14.69	2.38	1.10	8.13	2.93	1.41	11.42	2.02	1.54
43	Thomas Pynchon	15.70	2.46	1.04	16.67	2.15	1.07	21.47	2.02	0.85	12.72	3.51	0.96	11.87	2.22	1.44
44	Jane Smiley	15.05	2.06	1.16	12.40	1.94	1.44	17.51	2.16	1.00	11.31	3.40	1.06	9.13	1.82	1.82
45	Nelson DeMille	15.05	2.49	1.06	16.28	1.68	1.26	16.95	1.36	1.37	15.19	3.38	0.85	12.79	1.73	1.56
46	James Michener	14.84	2.37	1.10	14.73	2.63	1.08	19.77	1.03	1.48	8.83	4.39	1.14	9.13	1.56	1.98
47	Herman Wouk	13.55	1.56	1.46	17.44	1.47	1.30	21.47	1.46	1.04	10.25	3.88	1.08	11.87	2.30	1.42
48	Saul Bellow	13.12	2.75	1.12	13.95	2.74	1.11	15.25	2.44	1.06	9.89	3.20	1.19	7.31	2.60	1.74
49	Bernard Malamud	12.69	2.67	1.15	11.63	2.24	1.40	23.16	2.63	0.69	9.89	2.96	1.24	10.50	1.64	1.80
50	Umberto Eco	12.47	2.90	1.13	18.60	1.97	1.01	12.43	1.83	1.41	8.83	3.34	1.27	12.33	2.60	1.32

The mean number of foils incorrectly identified as authors was low and ranged between 1% and 3% across cohorts