2005 ISIR Templeton Prize for Best Student Paper

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Jelte M. Wicherts

Biosketch:
As an undergraduate student at the Psychology Department of the University of Amsterdam, Jelte Wicherts was interested in so many psychological topics that he decided to specialize in none of these topics and focus on research methodology and psychometrics instead. This enabled him to develop a broad view on psychology, which remains with him to this day. Under the supervision of Don Mellenbergh and Harrie Vorst, Jelte wrote his Master’s thesis on the equivalence of mood and personality questionnaires across different administration methods. After receiving his Master of Science degree (cum laude), Jelte started a PhD project at the Psychological Methods group of the University of Amsterdam. This project, supervised by Conor V. Dolan, is aimed at applying structural equation models to intelligence test performance. A particular aim of this project is to more fully understand the nature, causes and implications of the Flynn Effect, or the secular increase in intelligence test scores over the years. Furthermore, Jelte’s research interests include the effects of stereotype threat on test performance, structural equation modeling, the understanding of group differences in test scores (measurement invariance), and the relation between experimental and differential psychology. Currently he is a student member of the International Society for Intelligence Research (ISIR), the Interuniversity Graduate School of Psychometrics and Sociometrics (IOPS), and of the Psychometric Society. He has supervised several undergraduate research groups and has taught undergraduate courses in research methods, structural equation modeling, and academic writing. In the summer of 2006 he hopes to complete his doctoral dissertation.
Representative Publications:
Wicherts, J.M., Dolan, C.V., & Hessen, D.J. (2005). Stereotype threat and group differences in test performance: A question of measurement invariance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89.
Wicherts, J.M. (2005). Stereotype threat research and the assumptions underlying analysis of covariance. American Psychologist, 60, 267-269.
Wicherts, J.M., Dolan, C.V., Hessen, D.J., Oosterveld, P. Baal, G.C.M. van, Boomsma, D.I., & Span, M.M. (2004) Are intelligence tests measurement invariant over time? Investigating the nature of the Flynn effect. Intelligence, 32, 509-537.