Psychometrics, Assessment, and Research Methodology: The Many Ways of Being Human

Dr. Bruno Zumbo is invited by the Department of Statistical Science and the Department of Psychology of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, to speak about recent developments in his research program motivated by what he has described as the many ways of being human with the central theme of equity and fairness at the nexus of data science and digital innovation. This virtual address will happen on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 at 9:00 am PST.

ABSTRCT:

While individual differences have been central to human psychology since the early 20th century, the dominant individual differences model for mental testing that emerged is one in which, ironically, the individual effectively disappeared (Danzinger, 1990). This naïve model motivated the early rapid uptake and development of statistical and psychometric methods that disguise the complexities of learning and human development by a primitive assumption about the homogeneity and linearity of data patterns. In this address, I will describe recent developments in my research program, also referring to some Italian research on mixed latent variable models that permit explicit consideration of the many ways of being human– reflecting the widely received view that human beings have evolved to acquire culture from birth and that the culture to which an individual is exposed, and the ecology of their lives, affects their basic psychology and cognition, including, in our case, questionnaire or test item responding.


Event Digital Poster HERE