Lab Members
Jessica Kay Flake, PhD (Principal Investigator)
JK Flake received a BS in Psychology from Northern Kentucky University in 2010, an MA in Quantitative Psychology from James Madison University in 2012, and a PhD in Measurement, Evaluation, and Assessment from the University of Connecticut in 2015. From 2015 to 2018 she worked as a postdoctoral researcher in quantitative psychology at York University and educational psychology at the University of Virginia. In 2018 she started her lab in the Quantitative Psychology area of the Department of Psychology at McGill University. JK Flake is also the Assistant Director for Methods at the Psychological Science Accelerator, and a member of the Technical Advisory Panel of the Enrollment Management Association. Her research interests include the development and application of latent variable models for use in educational and social psychological research and the improvement of measurement practices in psychology more broadly.
When she isn't estimating variances, she is a casual powerlifter and chef.
Raymond Luong (graduate student)
@RayLuongQuant | raymondluong.ca
Raymond received his HBSc with a specialty in psychology and minor in applied statistics at the University of Toronto. He aims to improve replicability in psychology by bridging gaps between methodologists and substantive researchers on issues concerning measurement and statistical power. He is also interested in applying principles from social psychology to reduce cognitive biases and from environmental psychology to increase pro-environmental consumer behaviours.
Raymond is an avid fan of the rhythm games Dance Dance Revolution and In the Groove.
Mairead Shaw (graduate student)
Mairead obtained her BSc in psychology at McGill University in 2019. Her research interests include measurement equivalence in multi-group data sets and the role of measurement practices in replication. She is also interested in developing open-source software to aid researchers in applying methods.
In her free time, Mairead enjoys podcasting, reading, and exercising.
Lindsay Jane Alley (graduate student)
Lindsay received a BA Honours in Psychology from Simon Fraser University. She is interested in technical and philosophical issues related to measurement validity, including construct definition, the integration of various sources of validity evidence, and the application of latent variable models. In a previous life, she received a degree in acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).
Off campus, Lindsay enjoys singing and playing the ukulele, hiking, and playing Dungeons and Dragons (Tiefling Ranger/Rogue).
Jake Plantz (graduate student)
Jake received his Master’s degree in Psychology from Arizona State University. He is interested in issues related to measurement validity and the communication of technical topics and information to broad audiences. He is also a big fan of coding and structural equation modeling.
In his free time, Jake enjoys climbing, playing guitar, generally being outdoors, and exploring Montreal.
Alumni
Lola (dog)
Lola is pursuing her PhDog in exercise science.
Sophie Hu (undergraduate student)
Sophie is a third-year Psychology student at McGill University. She is completing an undergraduate thesis about student motivation under Dr. Flake’s supervision. She is also interested in learning more about testing the reliability and validity of measurement scales.
Sophie likes to spend her free time reading and painting.
Sneha Shankar (Post-Doc)
Sneha received a PhD from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 2019 in the Measurement, Evaluation and Research Methodology program. She also has an MSc and BSc in Kinesiology from the University of Waterloo, and a Master of Occupational Therapy from UBC. Sneha’s journey towards measurement has provided unique insights about how tests and assessments are used in practice with varying populations. Through these opportunities, she has developed a research interest in improving measurement practices, particularly validity and validation processes in psychological, educational and medical domains. Sneha brings this together with her interests in the psychological constructs of motivation and goals, and in understanding how to effectively measure and evaluate these concepts in applied settings. She also works with the Enrollment Management Association to look at validation evidence for the Character Skills Snapshot and explore how student skills develop over time.
When Sneha isn’t expanding her measurement knowledge, you will find her hiking mountains or travelling abroad and learning other languages. Whatever city you find her, Sneha will be staying active, checking out the local art scene, dabbling with acrylic paints or baking chocolate treats.
Leonie Cloos (graduate research trainee)
Leonie visited as a graduate research trainee from August 2019 to January 2020, as part of her masters training in Clinical and Health Psychology at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. Her work while at McGill focused on measurement invariance in multisite studies.
Sasha Elbaz (undergraduate volunteer)
Sasha is in the third year of his undergraduate degree in Psychology at Concordia University, and plans to pursue graduate studies in psychology as well. He is interested in reliability and validity, and how they apply to cognitive neuroscience research.
Outside of the lab, Sasha likes taking long walks around Montreal.