Quantitative Psychology Brown Bag
Monday, November 7 — Joint Session with Dr. Nathan Kuncel
The Quantitative Psychology brownbag of November 7, 2022, Monday @ 12:30-1:30pm ET will be a joint session organized by several other programs along with OSU around the nation:
University of Notre Dame
University of Maryland, College Park
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Virginia
Vanderbilt University
University of South Carolina
McGill University
York University
University of Missouri
Dr. Nathan Kuncel
Department of Psychology and Carlson School of Management
University of Minnesota
Dr. Nathan Kuncel
Title: Moving Toward Evidence Based Practice in Graduate Admissions
Abstract: The validity and fairness of admissions decisions are driven by the quality of the information considered and the decision making process used to combine that information. Ideally, decision makers should consider multiple, highly valid predictors. Each of these predictors should provide incremental information over the others. Finally, the predictor information should be combined consistently and weighted to maximize the predictive power of the available information. Unfortunately, most graduate school admissions processes are the exact opposite of this ideal. Typically, information sources with near zero predictive power are seriously considered and discussed. This information is then subjectively weighted at the whim of the decision maker. Finally, the ultimate decision is often based on undisciplined group discussions with little to no follow-up or accountability. Most holistic admissions processes are unintended and well-intentioned shams. In this talk, I will provide evidence for this thesis and discuss what to do about it.
Nathan R. Kuncel is the Marvin D. Dunnette Distinguished Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology, and a McKnight Presidential Fellow at the University of Minnesota. Professor Kuncel, a nationally recognized leader in the field of Industrial-Organizational Psychology, received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.
He specializes in the structure and prediction of performance in academic and work settings, and the validity of individual differences for predicting different aspects of performance. Professor Kuncel has earned a multitude of awards and fellowships, and he has written for The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Science, and many other professional journals.
Monday 7 November 2022: 12:30-1:30pm Eastern time
The session has ended; please contact Dr. Jolynn Pek for more information.
Wednesday, November 16 — Denny Borsboom, Ph.D
The quantitative area in Psychology will be having Denny Borsboom from the University of Amsterdam visiting us in-person for a research talk on Wednesday, 16 November 2022. The talk is titled, “Measurement theory and psychometrics: A network perspective,” and the talk will be in Psychology 35 from 3:00-4:00pm. A reception will follow.
Dr. Denny Borsboom
Psychology Department, Director of Social and Behavioural Data Science Centre
University of Amsterdam
Denny Borsboom, Ph.D
Denny will be talking on network psychometrics, which is the use of network to represent constructs – with very broad applications. There’s a Nature paper on this topic:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43586-021-00055-w
Title: Measurement theory and psychometrics: A network perspective
Abstract: Psychological measurement has traditionally been approached through the lens of psychometric models: statistical structures that form a bridge between
substantive psychological theory and empirical data. For most of the 20th century, the dominant model in psychometrics was the latent variable model, in which test scores can be viewed as effects of a latent psychological construct. However, in recent years, psychological constructs are increasingly interpreted in terms of networks of interacting beliefs, abilities, affect states, and behaviors; such conceptualizations have taken a high flight in psychopathology research, but are also on the rise in research on attitudes, intelligence, and personality. From this perspective, a psychological construct is not seen as a latent variable that underlies or determines observable behaviors, but as a property that emerges from the interaction between network components. A novel psychometric modeling tradition associated with this idea has developed statistical structures to serve as a bridge between network theory and data: network psychometrics. In the present talk, I will explain how network psychometrics relates to traditional psychometric perspectives and how it changes some pivotal elements in thinking about psychological measurement.
Dr. Denny Borsboom is a professor in the Psychological Methods Group at the Psychology Department of the University of Amsterdam and director of its Social and Behavioural Data Science Centre. His research focuses on the conceptual analysis of psychometric concepts, the development of new psychometric techniques, and the formation of formalized psychological theory. His research on the use of complex systems and network models in the context of psychometrics and psychopathology research is concentrated in the Psychosystems Project. Research on formal theory construction is located at the Theory Methods Lab. He is also an associate of the Institute for Advanced Study and an affiliate of the POLDER simulation Center.