Query on the "Adaptive" alogirthm

[venkatsr]

I have attempted couple of MGMAT CAT's and got a question about the adaptive nature of the test.

I understand that item difficulty can change with content and we get an easy question if the previous question is answered wrong. In the tests I attempted, even after answering few 700-800 or 600-700 difficulty questions correctly, a 300-500 difficulty question shows up.

What am I missing? Is this how the real GMAT CAT works ?

Any insights are greately appreciated.

[StaceyKoprince]

The "question right = harder question" (and vice versa) thing is only one part of the algorithm. The test is also factoring in a bunch of other things (such as making sure that you get enough questions from various categories without giving you questions you've already seen before).

Also, for the RC, the questions are determined at the point that you start a new RC passage - eg, question 6 is the first of an RC passage and questions 7 and 8 are chosen at the same time, so your performance on question 6 won't change what you see for 7 or 8. That's true on the real test, too. So if the "set" you've been assigned includes a 300-500 at #8, you're going to get that no matter what you do on #6 and #7.