Dr Sabina Kleitman

Education

1997–2003 Ph.D, School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

Title: Self-confidence and self-monitoring aspects of metacognition, their nature and their place within rationality debates: An individual differences perspective.
Supervisor : Prof. Lazar Stankov; Associate Supervisor: Dr. Richard D. Roberts

1996 Hons. (Psychology) The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

Majors: Psychology of Individual Differences, Metacognition, Psychological Assessment, Psychometrics, Applied Statistics, Developmental Psychology
Thesis 1: The overconfidence phenomenon as a consequence of both the selection of test items and the person.
Supervisor : Dr. Lazar Stankov
Thesis 2 : Is the ADHD model really valid? Literature review.
Supervisor: Dr. Stephanie Whitmont and Dr. Lynne Sweeny

1995 B.A. The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

Majors : Psychology; Mathematical Statistics; Industrial Relations & Human Resource Management.

Other:

2002 Multilevel analysis with MLwiN & LISREL 8.51; 18 th ACSPRI Program
2001 Applied Structural Equation Modelling; 17 th ACSPRI Program
2000 Introduction to Structural Equation Modelling; 16 th ACSPRI Program
1999 Principal Components andFactor Analysis; 15 th ACSPRI Program
1998 Risk and Decision-Making; 14 th ACSPRI Program
1997 Building Predictive models, SPSS training course, The University of Sydney
1986-1992 B. Ed. (incomplete, 3 ½ years out of 4) Drogobych Pedagogical Institute, Ukraine
1990 Moscow Medical Institute , Certificate: Psychological Counselling

Research Interests

Individual Differences in Metacognitive Processes, Multivariate Data Analyses, Applied statistics, Psychological Assessment, Intelligence, Decision-Making, Cognitive styles, Self-Concepts, Personality, Developmental Psychology.

Professional History

• April 2004-present. Lecturer, The University of Sydney (full-time, continuing position)
   
• April 2003-April 2004. Associate Lecturer, The University of Sydney
   
• February 1997 to March 2003: Ph.D Student, School of Psychology, The University of Sydney
  Supervisor: Prof. Lazar Stankov, Associate Supervisor: Dr. Richard D. Roberts
   
• May 2000 to December 2002 : Research Associate, SELF Research Centre, University of Western Sydney (part-time). Supervisor: Prof. Herb Marsh
   
• June 1998 to 2002 : Invited Lecturer, School of Psychology, The University of Sydney
  Courses: Intelligence, Individual Differences, Psychological Assessment.
   
• June 1997 - 2003 : Tutor, The University of Sydney
  Courses: Intelligence, Individual Differences, Psychological Assessment, Intermediate and Senior level statistics.
   
• June 1998 - 2002 : Research Assistant, Developmental Psychology Unit, School of Psychology, The University of Sydney
   
• May 1999 - May 2000 : Research Psychologist, Cornea & Contact Lenses Research Unit.
  Supervisor: Dr. Fiona Stapleton
   
• 1989-1991 : Full-Time teacher and Part-time school psychologist, Primary School Ukraine

Courses Taught

• Advanced Statistics
  
• Individual Differences
  
• Psychological Assessment
  
• Intelligence and Human Reasoning
  
• Statistics and Research Design
  
• Field Research Methods

Grants

R&D (2006) for the project titled: Metacognition, its implication for quality of life in pregnancy and its possible biological markers.

Reviewed Manuscripts in the following Journals

• Learning and Individual Differences
• Personality and Individual Differences
• Journal of Research on Adolescents

Tests/Questionnaires Developed

• Verbal Reasoning Test (VRT)

The test was developed as a research tool and intensively validated. The questions were designed to elicit the different cognitive strategies (e.g., answer recognition, inference and guessing). It incorporates main principles of critical reasoning, dynamic decision-making and heuristics-&-biases paradigms. The test includes unique information-weighting procedure and interactive design. It allows assessment and evaluation of the various aspects of decision-making. Subsequently the test was used in a number of projects at the USYD.

• Memory and Reasoning Competency Inventory (MARCI)

The test was developed as a research tool and intensively validated. The MARCI is a self-concept measure that assesses self-beliefs about competency of cognitive processes employed during decision-making. Subsequently the questionnaire was published (2007) used in a number of projects at the USYD and overseas (including ETS-related data collection).

• Geography General Knowledge Test (GGKT)

The test was developed as a part of Hon. Thesis in 1997. The test assesses knowledge of Australian geography and included typical general knowledge and ‘tricky’ items. Subsequently the test was used in a number of projects at the USYD.

• Contributed to the Development and Validation of the Following Tests

• Imagery Scales for Children in Three Modalities . The test is used for assessment of vividness of imaginary in primary and secondary school children;
• Peers Attitude Scale Towards Children who Stutter;
• OCEANIC. The questionnaire is designed to assess five personality dimensions.
• Course Evaluation Questionnaire. The test was comprised from a number of scales and was used to evaluate the effectiveness of newly implemented Graduate Medical Program at The University of Sydney.
• Eating Disorders Diagnostic Inventory. The test is used to diagnose eating disorders (anorexia and bulimia)
• Quality of Life Questionnaire. The test is used for screening patients with different eye conditions (eg., dry eyes);
• Sustainable Design Questionnaire. The test is used to assess people’s perception of quality of their surroundings;
• SES (proxy) questionnaire . The scale was designed to assess Social Economic Status.

Publications

Stankov, L., & Kleitman, S. (in press). Processes on the Borderline Between Cognitive Abilities and Personality: Confidence and Its Realism. In G. J. Boyle, G. Matthews, & D. Saklofske (Eds). The Handbook of Personality Theory and Testing. Sage Publications.

Kleitman, S ., & Stankov, L. (2007). Self-confidence and Metacognitive Processes. Learning and Individual Differences journal, 17, 161-173.

Stankov, L., & Kleitman, S. (2007). Processes on the Borderline Between Cognitive Abilities and Personality: Confidence and Its Realism. Suvremena Psihologija, 10, 109-129.

Want, J., & Kleitman, S. (2006). Feeling “Phony”: Adult Achievement Behaviour, Parental Rearing Style and Self-Confidence. Journal of Personality and Individual Differences, 40 (5), 961-971.

Howie, P., Marham, R., & Kleitman, S. (2006). The development of imagery scales for children in three modalities. Journal of Mental Imaginary, 30 (1-2), 39-64.

Kleitman. S. (2005). Knowing thyself: Self-Confidence and Self-Monitoring aspects of Metacognition. Published via the National Quality Schooling Framework website www.nqsf.edu.au (paper by invitation, a DEST funded initiative).

Kleitman, S . & Stankov, L. (2005). Self-Confidence and Metacognitive Processes. Journal of the Institute for Educational Research, 37 (1), 45-69.

Marsh, H., & Kleitman. S. (2005). Consequences of Employment During High School: Character Building, Subversion of Academic Goals, or a Threshold? American Educational Research Journal, 42 (2), 331-370.

Marsh, H. W. & Kleitman, S. (2005). School Performance. In D. Levinson & K. Christenson (Eds.). Berkshire Encyclopedia of World Sport (Vol. 3, pp. 1328-1332). Great Barrington MA, Berkshire Publishing.

Kleitman, S. (2003). Bias Score—An Instance of Systematic Irrationality? Published Proceedings of the ICCS/ASCS-2003 . Joint International Conference on Cognitive Science. Sydney, Australia 13 - 17 July 2003.

Kleitman, S ., Stankov, L. & Marsh, H. (2003). Metacognition: Self-Concept, Personality and Cognitive Correlates. Published Proceedings of the AARE/NZARE Conference SELF Research Centre Symposium, Auckland, New Zealand, 29 November - 3 December.

Marsh, H., & Kleitman, S. (2003). Consequences of Sport Participation in High School. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 25 (2), 205-228.

Marsh, H., & Kleitman, S. (2002). Extracurricular School Activities: The Good, the Bad, and the Nonlinear. Harvard Educational Review, 72 (4), 464-514.

Pallier, G., Wilkinson, R., Danthiir, V., Kleitman, S., Knezevic, G., Stankov, L. & Roberts, R. (2002). The role of question format and individual differences in the realism of confidence judgments. Journal of General Psychology, 129 (3), 257-300.

Kleitman, S . & Stankov, L. (2001a). Ecological and person-driven aspects of metacognitive processes in test-taking. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 15, 321-341.

Kleitman, S . & Stankov, L. (2001b). Response selection strategies, metacognitive beliefs, and Confidence: An individual differences perspective. Published Proceedings of the Inaugural International Conference: Self-Concept Theory, Research and Practice: Advances for the New Millennium, Sydney, Blue Mountains, 5-6 October, Australia.

Work Currently Submitted

Langevin, M., Kleitman, S., Onslow, M., & Packman, A. Construct validity of the peer attitude scale towards children who stutter.

Kleitman, S ., & Stankov, L. Systematic Irrationality: Does it help to explain the confidence bias?

Work in Progress

Bowman, D. B., Stankov. L., & Kleitman, S. Metacognitive processes in performance on cognitive tests: An individual differences perspective.

Kleitman, S., & Stankov, L. Thinking Dispositions and Metacognitive Trait of Self-confidence.

Kleitman, S., & Stankov, L. Thinking Dispositions and Calibration Paradigm: Links between miscalibration and dogmatism.

Kleitman, S., & Bowman, D. “Intelligent” test-taking strategies and their impact on quality of decision-making.

Sugiyama, T., & Kleitman, S. Preferences for Sustainable Design: Application of structural equation modelling.

Conferences Proceedings and Presentations

Kleitman, S. & Killeen, D. (2007). How broad are the Self-Confidence and the Under/Over-Confidence bias factors really? Proceedings of the Annual International Society for the Study of Individual Differences Conference, Germany , the University of Giessen from 22-27 July.

Kleitman, S., & Stankov, L. (2003). Metacognition: Self-Concept, Personality and Cognitive Correlates. Proceedings of the Annual International Society for the Study of Individual Differences Conference , Graz, July 13-17.

Kleitman, S., Stankov, L. & Marsh, H. (2003). Metacognition: Self-Concept, Personality and Cognitive Correlates. Published Proceedings of the AARE/NZARE Conference SELF Research Centre Symposium. Auckland, New Zealand, 29 November - 3 December.

Kleitman, S ., Stankov, L. & Petocz, P. (2003). Miscalibration Bias and Rationality Debates. Proceedings of the 11th Australian Mathematical Psychology Conference , Sydney University, November 27-30.

Kleitman,S., Stankov, L. & Petocz, P. (2003). Metacognition and its Role in Rationality Debates. Proceedings of the 5th annual Post-graduate conference for the School of Psychology , University of Sydney, November 3.

Kleitman, S ., & Stankov, L. (2001). Tendency towards additivity in multiple choice test items. Proceeding of the 3 rd International Spearman Seminar, Sydney, November 28-30, Australia.

Kleitman, S., & Stankov, L. (2000). Cognitive strategies, metacognitive beliefs and confidence: An individual differences perspective. Published Proceeding of the Inaugural International Conference of Self-concept Theory, Research and Practice: Advances for the New Millennium, Blue Mountains, October 5-6, Australia.

Kleitman, S ., Stankov, L., & Roberts, R. D. (1999a). Cognitive strategies, metacognitive beliefs and overconfidence: An individual differences perspective. Australian Journal of Psychology. 51 , 33.

Kleitman, S ., Stankov, L., & Roberts, R. D. (1999b). Cognitive strategies and overconfidence. Proceeding of the Annual International Society for the Study of Individual Differences Conference, Vancouver, July 5-9, Canada.

Kleitman, S ., Stankov, L., & Roberts, R. D. (1999c). How rational are human beings really? Journal of Applied Health Behaviour, 1 (2), 60.

Baggs, K., Touyz, S., Kleitman, S. Gertler, R., & Korda, A. (1999). Prevalence of Eating disorders in Australia. Journal of Applied Health Behaviour, 1 (2), 54.

Erickson, D., Kleitman, S., and Erickson, P. (1999). Self-Efficacy and Psychosocial Variables in Monovision Lens Wear. Proceeding of the Annual International Society for the Study of Individual Differences Conference, Vancouver, July 5-9, Canada.

Kleitman, S., & Stankov, L. (1998). Confidence/Frequency Effects in Cognitive Tasks. Australian Journal of Psychology. 50, 46.

Kleitman, S., & Stankov, L. (1997). Ecological and Person-Oriented Aspects of Metacognitive Processes in Test-Taking. Australian Journal of Psychology. 49, 106.