Dr. Peter Merenda
Recipient of the 2005 Division 5
Samuel J. Messick Award for
Distinguished Scientific
Contributions

Dr. Peter Merenda (Ph.D., 1957, Wisconsin) is Professor Emeritus at the University of Rhode Island.  His research career is exten-sive and distinguished and most certainly de-serves recognition within Division 5 for his sci-entific contributions. His illustrious record of scholarship includes two books (Educational Measurement, with Lindeman; & Introduction to Bivariate and Multivariate Analysis, also with Lindeman), more than 250 articles in nu-merous areas relevant to Division 5 (e.g., reliability and validity, psychological testing and measurement, assessment, cross-cultural assessment, statistical analysis, canonical cor-relation), and more than 100 presentations, in-cluding invited addresses, conferences, and symposia.  From 1957-1960, Peter was re-cruited to organize and develop a research department for Walter V. Clarke Associates, a nation-wide psychological management con-sulting firm. Then, from 1960-1984, Peter helped found and served as Professor (and Chair) in the Department of Psychology at the University of Rhode Island.  Today, well into his eighties, Peter continues to publish papers and contribute to the field of quantitative psy-chology.  In addition, Peter has been awarded a number of honors, including two Fulbright Awards, the American Psychological Associa-tion Karl F. Heiser Presidential Award, the New England Psychological Association Dis-tinguished Contribution Award, and the Ameri-can Psychological Association Outstanding Contributions to International Psychology.       





Dr. Roger Kirk
Recipient of the 2005 Division 5
Jacob Cohen Award for
Distinguished Contributions to Teaching and Mentoring

Dr. Roger Kirk (Ph.D., Ohio State Univer-sity, 1955) is Distinguished Professor of Psy-chology and Statistics at Baylor University. Roger's research legacy is profound. He has published almost a 100 scholarly articles or books in the areas of learning, evaluation, performance, experimental design, analysis of variance, statistical issues, research, statistical consulting, power and robustness of statistical tests, multiple comparisons, and effect sizes. His books on Elementary Statistics and Experimental Design are staples for generations of college students. The latter book has been featured as a Citation Classic by the Institute for Scientific Information as one of the most frequently cited books. His paper on "Practical Significance" is a classic in the field that beautifully and elegantly clarifies the wide debates about significance testing and effect sizes.  With almost 50 years in front of a classroom, he has been recognized multiple times at Baylor University as the Outstanding Tenured Teacher in the College of Arts and Sciences, a Master Teacher, and the Distin-guished Professor of Psychology and Statis-tics. He has left an indelible mark on the minds of his generations of students, many who have gone on to their own distinguished careers




Dr. Emilio Ferrer
Recipient of the 2005 Division 5 Distinguished Dissertation Award


Dr. Emilio Ferrer (Ph.D.,2003, Uni-versity of Virginia) is Assistant Profes-sor of Psychology at the Universityof California, Davis.  At UVA, he studied quantitative psychology with Dr. John McArdle.  He is Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Cali-fornia, Davis.  After teaching high school in Spain for several years, he came to the U.S.  where he completed a M.S. at the University of Oregon and a PhD in quantitative psychology at the University of Virginia in 2003.  In his dissertation he used dynamic system models to examine the interrelations between cognitive abilities and achievement in children and adoles-cents, and to identify developmental discontinuities in such interrelations. His work combines quantitative meth-odology and developmental psychol-ogy. He is interested in methods to analyze change and intra-individual variability, including latent growth modeling, dynamical systems, and models to analyze dyadic interactions. Some of his substantive areas of inter-est are the structure and development of cognitive abilities, the mechanisms associated with intrinsic motivation, and affective processes in dyadic in-teractions.