Dr Damian Birney

Dr Damian Birney PhD (University of Queensland)

Position: Senior Lecturer

Office: Rm 449, Brennan MacCallum Building

Ph: +61 2 9351 4236
Fax: +61 2 9036 5223
Email: damianb@psych.usyd.edu.au

School of Psychology
Brennan MacCallum Building (A18)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006
Australia

Research Interests

Publications

Projects

Students

Become a participant in our research

Research Interests:

Working memory and fluid intelligence
Cognitive complexity
Strategy development (and eventually creativity)
Foundations and applications of psychological measurement
Development of flexible expertise

My research focuses on the investigation of human reasoning, learning, and problem solving, broadly defined. Three areas of particular interest are individual differences in cognitive abilities, relational reasoning abilities and working memory, and the philosophy of measurement.

Individual difference in cognitive abilities: The general focus of individual differences research is to map relationships between different psychological abilities and traits using correlational methods. It has been suggested that while correlational methods are effective for describing relations between different abilities, they provide little insight into the underlying processes¹. For instance, researchers have argued that (1) our understanding of cognitive (and personality) constructs has been limited by a “dutiful” adherence to a limited set of methodologies^2,3, and (2) that a much broader conceptualisation of abilities is necessary – that traditional psychometric tests capture only a small part of human capabilities^4,5. These, I believe, are legitimate concerns for individual differences research that might be addressed, at least in part, by broadening both theoretical and methodological paradigms.
Working Memory and Relational reasoning abilities: My interest in relational reasoning abilities stems from my work of Graeme Halford⁶ and the work of other information-processing theorists⁷. These theories tend to conceptualise cognition from an experimental perspective which focuses more on mean differences in performance than on individual differences. Halford et al’s research investigates the nature and development of working memory as defined as the capacity to represent and process complex relations in parallel. My research has contributed to attempts to identify characteristics of tasks that influence relational complexity, and the person characteristics that mediate the capacity to deal with complexity⁸. While cognitive process analyses of tasks may provide useful accounts of the processes involved, experimental theories have been criticised for failing to sufficiently account for individual differences⁹. These, I believe, are legitimate concerns.
Measurement: The theoretical interests I have briefly described are driven to a large extent by interests in psychological measurement. Understanding covert cognitive processes is necessarily limited by the inappropriateness, unreliability, and imprecision of our assessment methods – quantification is not simply deciding what to count. My philosophical interests in measurement stem from the work of diverse researchers such as Joel Michell¹⁰ and Ben Wright¹¹ who argue, albeit from different methodological paradigms, that researchers often only assume that the measures used to develop and validate psychological theories have appropriate measurement properties. Unfortunately, it has been argued that the nature of psychological research, particularly applied research, means that situations in which the quantitative properties of measurement can be directly assessed are rare¹². However, while there is a clear tension between the ideals of measurement and the practical constraints of psychological and educational research, this does not mean that we cannot aspire to the more perfect ideal.

Integration and current research: Individual differences and experimental approaches are often seen to be distinct investigative paradigms. However, I believe there are important advances to be made in psychology if we integrate these approaches. My primary research interests focuses on combining process (experimental) and individual differences theories of human reasoning.

Cited references and influences

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Research Projects:

Title: Assessment of Executive Function in Children and Adults
ARC Discovery Project: DP0452547
Investigators: G.S. Halford, G. Andrews, D.P. Birney, M. Chappell, D.H. Shum

Summary: This project aims to develop tests for executive function that are better grounded in the theory of cognitive processes, have sound measurement properties, and are more efficient, than existing measures. Executive functions entail planning, self-evaluation and adaptation to novel situations. Executive function deficits are found in children and adults who have suffered injury to the frontal regions of the brain, in some ageing adults, and in certain clinical groups such as autistics. Ability to cope with complexity is a factor in executive functioning, and this will be assessed utilising a new approach to analysis of cognitive complexity.

Title: Flexible Expertise in Senior Executives
ARC Linkage Grant Project LP0669552
The Accelerated Learning Laboratory (ALL): A collaboration between the Australian Graduate School of Management (UNSW) and the School of Psychology (USyd)
Investigators: R. Wood (AGSM), J. Beckmann (USyd), D.P. Birney (USyd), S. Gary (AGSM)
APDI: D.B. Bowman; N. Beckmann

Summary: This project will develop an innovative model of flexible expertise (FE); identify its determinants and related synergistic skills for executive leadership; and to use knowledge obtained to design programs for accelerating the development of FE and leadership capabilities. Using the most advanced technological facilities we will conduct a series of unprecedented studies in large samples of senior executives from 7 leading Australian organisations. Outcomes will include a model of leadership that links expert knowledge to interpersonal and language skills required for executive leadership and a multi-method program including simulations, coaching and role-plays for accelerated development of FE and related skills for executive leadership.

Title: Investigation of the role of learning in general fluid intellectual abilities
University of Sydney (Research and Development ECR Grant, 2005)
Investigators: D.P. Birney

Summary: Fluid intelligence (Gf) is perhaps the most important, quintessential, aspect of intelligence. Despite common definitions as the capacity to learn, few tests of Gf explicitly consider learning. The proposed research investigates the relation between learning and Gf by manipulating how much opportunity for learning in a task is available. Investigation of the learning aspect of Gf has direct theoretical implications for many areas of psychology and education. There are also applied implications. In a world that is becoming more dynamic and unpredictable, how well one learns and how flexible one’s thinking is will be an increasingly important predictor of success.

Title: Do individual differences in strategy development mitigate or substantiate working-memory theories?
University of Sydney (Research and Development ECR Grant, 2006)
Investigators: D.P. Birney

Summary: One of the persistent problems in cognitive psychology which impacts the assessment of intellectual abilities in education, clinical settings, and organisations, has been the task of dissociating the effect of knowledge from the effect of limitations in more basic cognitive processes. For instance, working-memory limits may be mitigated by the use of strategies that minimise cognitive demand. Strategies are a form of knowledge and can be acquired spontaneously through experience or taught explicitly. This research attempts to bring together disparate research paradigms to test the limits of a strong theory of working-memory with broader implications for psychological assessment and education.

Other Projects
Title: Perceptions of the maleability of intelligence
Investigators: D.P. Birney, I. Jeltova

Summary: Cognitive modifiability is an enigmatic construct. We explore university students’ implicit theories about the modifiability of intelligence and how these relate to various task and person characteristics. Based on the work of Carol Dweck, one’s implicit theory about human attributes is said to structure the way people understand and react to actions and outcomes. An entity-theory is associated with the belief that while people can learn new things, intelligence is a fixed, nonmalleable trait. An incremental-theory is associated with the belief that intelligence is a malleable quality that can be changed and developed through effort. Perceptions of the malleability of intellectual abilities impact ones motivations and goals and have direct implications for education and training.

Students:

Current PhDs: Stanton Bongers, Myvan Bui, Leo Gabales, Andrew Howe*, Jing-Lam Ko, Fiona Pavlakis*, Hal Willaby*

Honours 2006: Leo Gabales; Quincy Wong
Honours/GDS 2005: Fiona Pavlakis, Cheryl Yoon, Elizabeth Tsang, Daniel Giles, Laurence Moetint, Kathryn Laidlaw
Honours 2004: Myvan Bui, Nadia Russell, Helen Wallace

PhD Graduates: Robert ForsterLee (2005); Katherine Ryan* (2007); David Bowman (2007)

* = Associate supervisor

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Interested in becoming a participant in our research?

Our researchers are exploring these and other questions about the role of learning abilities in simple and complex problem-solving tasks. We are interested in what aspects of everyday problems, reasoning tasks, and puzzles facilitate learning and improve performance.

If you are also interested in these questions, we are now inviting volunteers to take part in our research. All of the research will be conducted at the University of Sydney.

You will be reimbursed for nominal out-of-pocket expenses up to a fixed amount.

If you would like to participate or know more about the research email, please contact:

Myvan Bui
Email: myvan@psych.usyd.edu.au
Telephone: 9036-7268

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Publications and Conference Presentations:

2007	Halford, G.S, Phillips, S., Wilson, W.H., McCredden, J, Baker, R., Andrews, G., Birney, D. P., & Bain, J. (2007). Relational Processing is Fundamental to the Central Executive and it is Limited to Four Variables. In N. Osaka, R. H. Logie & M. D'Esposito (Eds.), The Cognitive Neuroscience of working memory: Behavioural and neural correlates (pp. 261-280). Oxford University Press. Jeltova, I., Birney, D. P., Fredine, N., Jarvin, L., Sternberg, R. J., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2007). Dynamic assessment as a process-oriented assessment in educational settings. Advances in Speech-Language Pathology, 1-13.
2006	Andrews, G., Birney, D. P., & Halford, G. S.(2006). Relational processing and working memory in the comprehension of complex relative clause sentences. Memory & Cognition, 34(6), 1325-1340. Birney, D. P., Bowman, D. B., & Pallier, G. (2006). Prior to paradigm integration, the task is to resolve construct definitions of gF and WM. Behavioral and Brain Science, 29(2), 127. Birney, D. P., Halford, G. S., & Andrews, G. (2006). Measuring the influence of relational complexity on reasoning: The development of the Latin Square Task. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66, 146-171. Birney, D.P. & Stemler, S.E. (2006). Intelligence quotient. In N. J. Salkind (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics. (Vol 2, pp. 473-476), Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage Publications. Birney, D. P. & Sternberg, R. J. (2006). Intelligence and cognitive abilities as competencies in development. To appear in E. Bialystok & G. Craik (Eds). Lifespan cognition: Mechanisms of change (pp 315-330). New York: Oxford University Press. Stemler, S.E. & Birney, D.P. (2006). Measurement. To appear in N. J. Salkind (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics (Vol 2, pp. 582-584), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Sternberg, R. J., Birney, D. P., Jarvin, L., Kirlik, A., Stemler, S. E., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2006). From molehill to mountain: The process of scaling up educational interventions (First-hand experience upscaling the theory of successful intelligence). In M. Constas & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), Translating educational theory and research into practice. (pp205 - 221) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Other: Sternberg, R. J., & the Rainbow Project Collaborators (2006). The Rainbow Project: Enhancing the SAT through Assessments of Analytical, Practical, and Creative Skills. Intelligence, 34, 321-350.
2005	Birney, D. P. (2005). Do you see the forest or the trees? We should aim to see both! A counterpoint to Chapter 8: Thought and Language. In L. J. Burton & D. Westen, Psychology - an Australasian Perspective. Milton, Qld: John Wiley. Birney, D. P., Fogarty, G. J., & Plank, A. (2005). Assessing schematic knowledge of introductory probability theory. Instructional Science, 33, 341-366. Birney, D. P., Citron-Pousty, J. H., Lutz, D. J., & Sternberg, R. J. (2005). The development of cognitive and intellectual abilities. In M. E. Lamb & M. H. Bornstein (Eds.), Developmental science: An advanced textbook (5th ed., pp. 327-358). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Other: Sternberg, R. J., & the Rainbow Project Collaborators. (2005). Augmenting the SAT through assessments of analytical, practical, and creative skills. In W. Camara & E. Kimmel (Eds.), Choosing students. Higher education admission tools for the 21st Century (pp. 159-176). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
2004 top	Andrews, G., Halford, G. S., & Birney, D. P. (2004). Quantifying the complexity of relative clause and cleft sentences. Paper presented at the 31st Australian Experimental Psychology Conference, Otago, New Zealand. Birney, D. P., Grigorenko, E. L., Sternberg, R. J., & Stemler, S. (2004). An application of the many-facet Rasch measurement approach to the evaluation of triarchic instruction. Paper presented at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA. Birney, D. P., Jeltova, I., Grigorenko, E. L., Sternberg, R. J., & Fredine, N. (2004). Content-specific dynamic assessment of achievement: Taking it to the masses. Paper presented at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Hawaii. Jarvin, L., Birney, D. P., Randi, J., Sternberg, R. J., & Newman, T. (2004). Applying cognitive theories to instructional practices. Paper presented at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA. Jeltova, I., Birney, D. P., Fredine, N., Grigorenko, E. L., & Sternberg, R. J. (2004). Reclaiming reciprocity in classroom assessment: Preliminary investigation of curriculum-based dynamic assessment. Paper presented at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Hawaii. Other: Sternberg R.J., the Rainbow Project Collaborators, & the University of Michigan Business School Project Collaborators (2004). Theory-based university admissions testing for a new millennium. Educational Psychologist, 39, 185-198.
2003 top	Birney, D. P. (2003). Mediating the Impact of Mediated Learning. [Review of the book Experience of Mediated Learning: An Impact of Feuerstein's Theory in Education and Psychology]. Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 48 (5), 677-679. Sternberg, R. J., & Rainbow Project Collaborators. (2003). The Rainbow Project: Enhancing the SAT through Assessments of Analytical, Practical, and Creative Skills (Technical Report). New Haven: Yale University. Jeltova, I., Birney, D. P., Grigorenko, E.L., & Sternberg, R.J. (2003). Developing dynamic tests to assess content specific achievement. Paper presented at the 9th International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, USA. Jeltova, I., & Birney, D. P., (2003). Overcoming resistance to dynamic assessment: Systems approach. Paper presented at the 9th International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
2002 top	Birney, D. P., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2002). Applying Triarchic Enhancement to Technology-Based Instruction and Assessment in a School Science Curriculum (Technical Report). New Haven: Yale University. Birney, D. P., & Halford, G. S. (2002). Cognitive complexity of suppositional reasoning: An application of the relational complexity metric to the knight-knave task. Thinking and Reasoning, 8(2), 109-134. Grigorenko, E. L., Birney, D. P., Jeltova, I., & Sternberg, R. J. (2002). Dynamic assessment: When assessment and instruction are two sides of the same coin. Paper presented at the Annual conference of the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, Washington, DC. Halford, G. S., Andrews, G., & Birney, D. P. (2002). Analysis of cognitive complexity: The role of interaction between variables. Paper presented at the 6th Conference of the Australasian Cognitive Science Society, Fremantle, Australia. Birney, D. P. (2002). The two disciplines problem: Integrating paradigms to study cognitive complexity. Paper presented at the Abilities and Competencies Seminar Series, Department of Psychology, Yale University.
2001	Birney, D. P., & Halford, G. S. (2001). Understanding cognitive complexity: Evidence from cognitive psychology and individual differences. Paper presented at the Third International Spearman Seminar, University of Sydney, Australia. Birney, D. P. (2001). Solution of Incomplete Latin Squares: An Application of the Rasch Measurement Model. Paper presented at the Psychonomic Seminar Series, School of Psychology, University of Queensland.
prior to 2001 top	Skuja, E., Clarke, J., & Birney, D. P. (1997). Diversity and the new binary system in Australian higher education. Journal of Institutional Research in Australasia, 6(2), 18-34. Birney, D. P., & Halford, G. S. (2000). Methods for analysing complexity in reasoning tasks: Links to fluid intelligence. Paper presented at the 4th International Conference on Thinking, University of Durham, UK. Birney, D. P., & Halford, G. S. (2000). Principles of relational complexity in cognitive task development. Paper presented at the 5th Australasian Cognitive Science Conference, University of Melbourne. Birney, D. P., & Halford, G. S. (2000). The psychometric properties of relational complexity in adult cognition. Paper presented at the poster session of the XVI British Psychological Society Cognitive Section Conference, The University of Essex, UK. Birney, D. P., Halford, G. S., & Andrews, G. (1998). Suppositional reasoning in the knight-knave task: An application of the relational complexity metric. Paper presented at the 5th National Conference in Reasoning and Decision Making, Charles Sturt University, NSW.

Selected references that have influenced my thinking:
1      Deary, I.J. (2001) Human intelligence differences: Towards a combined experimental-differential approach. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 5 (4), 164-170.
2      Cronbach, L.J. (1957) The two disciplines of scientific psychology. American Psychologist 12, 671-684.
3      Lohman, D.F. and Ippel, M.J. (1993) Cognitive diagnosis: From statistically based assessment toward theory-based assessment. In Test theory for a new     generation of tests (Frederiksen, N. et al., eds.), pp. 41-70, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
4      Sternberg, R.J. (1997) Successful intelligence, Plume.
5      Birney, D.P. and Sternberg, R.J. (in press) Intelligence and cognitive abilities as competencies in development. In Lifespan Cognition: Mechanisms of Change (Bialystok, E. and Craik, G., eds.).
6      Halford, G.S. et al. (1998) Processing capacity defined by relational complexity: Implications for comparative, developmental, and cognitive psychology. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 21, 803-831.
7      Johnson-Laird, P. (2001) Mental models and deduction. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 5 (10), 434-442.
8      Birney, D.P. and Halford, G.S. (2002) Cognitive complexity of suppositional reasoning: An application of the relational complexity metric to the knight-knave task. Thinking and Reasoning 8 (2), 109-134.
9      Roberts, M.J. (1993) Human reasoning: Deduction rules or mental models, or both? Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 46A (4), 569-589.
10    Michell, J. (1997) Quantitative science and the definition of measurement in psychology. British Journal of Psychology 88 (3), 355-384.
11     Wright, B.D. (1999) Fundamental measurement for psychology. In The New Rules of Measurement: What Every Psychologist and Educator Should Know. (Embretson, S.E. and Hershberger, S.L., eds.), Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
12    Birney, D.P. (2001) Solution of Incomplete Latin Squares: An Application of the Rasch Measurement Model. In Psychonomic Seminar Series, Univeristy of Queensland.
13    Stankov, L. (2000) Complexity, metacognition and fluid intelligence. Intelligence 28 (2), 121-143
14    Embretson, S.E. (1993) Psychometric models for learning and cognitive processes. In Test Theory for a New Generation of Tests (Frederiksen, N. et al., eds.), pp. 125-150, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

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