(from the chapter) This chapter sets the stage for the entire computerized adaptive testing Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (CAT-ASVAB) development program by describing the state of the art immediately preceding its inception. By the mid-l970s, a great deal of research had been conducted that provided the technical underpinnings needed to develop adaptive tests, but little research had been done to corroborate empirically the promising results of theoretical analyses and computer simulation studies. In this chapter, the author summarizes much of the important theoretical and simulation research prior to 1977. In doing so, he describes a variety of approaches to adaptive testing, and shows that while many methods for adaptive testing had been proposed, few practical attempts had been made to implement it. Furthermore, the few instances of adaptive testing were based primarily on traditional test theory, and were developed in laboratory settings for purposes of basic research. The most promising approaches, those based on item response theory and evaluated analytically or by means of computer simulations, remained to be proven in the crucible of live testing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved).