Improving Cognitive Tests with Modern Psychometrics

描述(由候选人提供)：候选人：保罗·K·克兰，医学博士，现任华盛顿大学内科NRSA博士后研究员。他对测量的长期兴趣已经发展成为对现代心理测量方法的特殊兴趣，因为它们可以应用于老年人认知功能的测量。 环境：华盛顿大学为克莱恩博士的培训和他提出的研究提供了一个理想的环境。与阿尔茨海默病相关的世界知名临床、流行病学和生物统计学专业知识可用于支持Crane博士研究事业的发展。 研究：克兰博士假设，心理测量学理论的最新进展在应用于老年人认知功能的测量时，将会带来重要的好处。痴呆症的每一项临床和流行病学研究都使用一项或多项认知功能测试。对认知功能进行有效、准确和公正的评估的重要性怎么强调都不为过。克莱恩博士将通过评估几个大型数据集的现有数据来探索和证明心理测量学理论的进步的实用性。这些研究将为未来的应用提供先导数据，将为克莱恩博士未来的学术研究生涯建立一条研究途径，并可能导致在测量认知功能方面取得重大进展。

DESCRIPTION (provided by candidate): CANDIDATE: Paul K. Crane, MD, is currently an NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Washington in the Department of Internal Medicine. His long-term interest in measurement has developed into a specific interest in modern psychometric methods as they can be applied to the measurement of cognitive functioning in the elderly. ENVIRONMENT: The University of Washington represents an ideal environment for Dr. Crane's training and for the research he proposes. World-renowned clinical, epidemiological, and biostatistical expertise related to Alzheimer's Disease are available to support the development of Dr. Crane's research career. RESEARCH: Dr. Crane hypothesizes that recent advances in psychometric theory will have important benefits when applied to the measurement of cognitive function in the elderly. Every clinical and epidemiological study of dementia uses one or more tests of cognitive function. The importance of valid, precise, and unbiased assessment of cognitive function is difficult to overstate. Dr. Crane will explore and demonstrate the utility of advances in psychometric theory by evaluating existing data from several large data sets. These studies will provide pilot data for future applications, will establish an investigative pathway for Dr. Crane's future academic research career, and will likely lead to significant advances in thinking about measuring cognitive function.