The meeting opened with widespread and heated debate which resulted in the minutes of the previous lab meeting (12/05/99-see Attachment A) being passed.
The lab then welcomed its new sister from The University of Southern Queensland, Katherine Ryan. Katherine completed her honours year in 1998 (some may remember her presentation on that research from the EPC earlier in the year), and will be completing her postgraduate studies under the supervision of Lazar Stankov.
In fourth year business, Alicia has finished scoring her huge dataset, which she is beginning to analyse. Vanessa and Rebecca W have just finished testing, and Rebecca R and Joel are soon to do the same. Heidi and Lisa are beginning testing on their second studies. The individual differences seminars of Sept. 16, Sept. 23, and Oct. 14 have been set aside for the fourth year pairs to present the results of their studies. Work commitments (eg, Bec W at the test library, various RA positions) will be manipulated to accommodate this valuable opportunity. Moreover, Richard congratulated the fourth years on their exam results for EDSA and psychometrics (and in some cases passed on congratulations for simply surviving... not mentioning any names, of course!). Gerry Pallier informed the lab of some proposed changes that may occur to the allocation of testing hours. The news is very good for individual differences; due to the fact that the nature of our research requires a greater number of subjects than, say, some perceptual studies (that practically couldn’t test as many people), there has been talk of shifting from the current policy of equal testing hours across the board to one that deals with the nature of the different laboratories’ research more realistically. Only time will tell of the extent to which this could favour individual differences’ research.
In postgrad news, Katherine is settling in, and has recently acquired a pigeon hole, a computer and a desk, but unfortunately (Gerry!) no pigeon! Keep up the good work, Katherine! Dennis is about to embark on a new study, and is still waiting for his Psychological Review paper to be received. Daniela has been testing participants from Silverwater prison, and is working on a multi-factor EQ scale. Fadi is a lot happier (!) and has been involved in the treatment of problem gamblers at the Badham clinic (which, incidentally, offers him a participant pool for his research!). Sabina has been recovering from ISSID, and complains of being too happy to be productive! She is currently attempting to computerise a test, and would like anyone who has knowledge of web-based assessment issues to contact her ASAP. Gerald is searching for a neuropsychological test battery, and has contacted the Westmead databank in his search for discharged brain damage patients. Additionally, Gerry has been involved in the organisation of a postgrad conference to be held later in the year, and has approached 60-70% of all psych postgrads, gathering their reactions. This is not designed to be a formal conference, but rather an opportunity for new postgrads to present an outline of their area of interest, so other members of the department can offer suggestions. It will be funded by the department, and will involve a poster presentation. Rich suggested that Daniela pass word around Cumberland campus, that there be a key-note address given, and that the potential for cross-fertilisation with UNSW and UMac not be ignored.
In terms of funding, both full-time (Stankov, Roberts, and Erickson) and postgrads (Anjoul, Kleitman, and Pallier) received DRGs (see Attachment B), and Stankov and Roberts both made submissions to the ‘2000 Small ARC Grant’. Departmental monies were set aside for the purchase of the following equipment and software; touch screen ($3125), AMOS (site license), Visual Basic ($500). Additionally, both a scanner and overhead projection system have been procured for S371.
Stankov has secured extra lab space for his research, with MM728 soon to be refurbished as a testing facility. In room changes, Gerry is now in MM753, Micheala in MM633, Katherine in MM728, and Rich in ‘North’ Badham 408.
The WWW site is progressing, with Rich, Fadi, Dennis, and Julia (a PSYC3211 student) forming a special working committee to look into improving the lab’s web design. By the next meeting, each postgrad and fourth year should have their own page.
The lab received some good feedback pertaining to a number of visitors to the lab over the past few months (Sid Irvine, Phil Ackerman [or was that Ruth, Rich?!], and Ruth Kanfer). We look forward to forthcoming visits by Nick Burns (ACT, Sept 1999), Lorelle Burten (USQ, Nov 1999), and Pat Kyllonen (ETS, 2000), as well as Sabina’s mother-in-law and uncle!
Everyone (except Fadi and Daniela) received their own ID lab business cards, courtesy of Tracy Watts and Rich.
Rich then informed the lab of the plethora of publications and presentations that its members had been involved in since the last meeting.
In keeping track of the lab celebrities, Fadi gave an interview to Radio 2SM on Gambling, and seems to have been much more equitably treated than was Lazar in an ‘interview’ for the Daily Telegraph. In this interview, Laz displayed his new found faith in psychometric g- this surprised us all, until we heard the ISSID anecdote where Laz defended a certain Arthur Jensen...! On the bright side (?), Laz’s interview did result in an interested letter from a member of the public, to whom Laz will reply in the not-too-distant future. Lazar has also had an article on EQ published in the Salon.com e-zine.
Laz and Rich are having papers presented at the Fifth European Conference on Psychological Assessment in Patras, Greece (Aug 25-29, 1999). Also Laz (address) and Gerry (paper) will be presenting at the Fifth Annual Conference of the APS College of Clinical Neuropsychologists in Leura (October 7-10, 1999).
In appointments, Heidi has been appointed casual RA for Pauline Howie and Ros Markham, and Rebecca W has been appointed Test Library assistant. Lazar mentioned that he had a job opportunity with the company involved with the STOCA, and Katherine expressed an interest to this end.
In other business, Daniela (Editorial Assistant) was congratulated on getting out the first issue of the Journal of Applied Health Behaviour. Lazar mentioned that he had to write a proposal for the review of Ethics Committee procedures by August 3rd, and was open to any suggestions that anyone had. Lazar also suggested that a bookshelf (or the like) be set aside in S371 for anything that would be considered generally interesting for members of the lab. Finally, Fadi suggested that we all get into the habit of sending each other material that may be pertinent to others.