Gideon Jan (Don) Mellenbergh (9 August 1938 – 27 March 2021) was a Dutch

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the pre ...

, who was Professor of Psychological methods at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

, known for his contribution in the field of

psychometrics Psychometrics is a field of study within psychology concerned with the theory and technique of measurement. Psychometrics generally refers to specialized fields within psychology and education devoted to testing, measurement, assessment, and ...

, and Social Research Methodology.

Biography

Born and raised in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, Mellenbergh received his MA in psychology from the University of Amsterdam in 1965, and his PhD in psychology in 1971 under the supervision of Professor

Adriaan de Groot Adrianus Dingeman (Adriaan) de Groot (Santpoort, 26 October 1914 – Schiermonnikoog, 14 August 2006) was a Dutch chess master and psychologist, who conducted some of the most famous chess experiments of all time in the 1940s-60. In 1946 he w ...

with a dissertation about educational tests, entitled "Studies in studietoetsen" (Studies on educational tests).dhr. prof.dr. G.J. (Don) Mellenbergh
Vitae. University of Amsterdam, Accessed May 18, 2013 In 1965 Mellenbergh started his academic career as Assistant professor Psychological Methods at the University of Amsterdam. Late 1969 he was visiting research assistant at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, studying educational methods. From 1975 to 1978 he was Associate professor

Psychometrics Psychometrics is a field of study within psychology concerned with the theory and technique of measurement. Psychometrics generally refers to specialized fields within psychology and education devoted to testing, measurement, assessment, and ...

at the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

, and then returned to the University of Amsterdam where he was Professor, Psychological Methods from 1982 to 2003. Among his PhD students were Henk Koppelaar and Denny Borsboom. In 1991 and 1993 he had been Visiting professor at the

University of Santiago de Compostela , established = , type = Public , budget = €228 million (2011) , rector = Prof. Dr. Antonio López Díaz , city = Santiago de Compostela , state = Galicia , country = Spain , undergrad = 23,835 , postgrad = 1,716 , doctoral = 2,697 , ...

, Spain. Mellenbergh performed many administrative functions in Dutch research institutes, is member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

(KNAW) since 1993, the Psychometric Society, the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

(APA), the

International Statistical Institute The International Statistical Institute (ISI) is a professional association of statisticians. It was founded in 1885, although there had been international statistical congresses since 1853. The institute has about 4,000 elected members from gov ...

(ISI), and the Interuniversity Graduate School of Psychometrics and Sociometrics (IOPS). And Mellenbergh was editor at

Psychometrika ''Psychometrika'' is the official journal of the Psychometric Society, a professional body devoted to psychometrics and quantitative psychology. The journal covers quantitative methods for measurement and evaluation of human behavior, including ...

, on the editorial Board of ''Psychological Methods'' and member of the editorial council of '' Psicothema''. He died on 27 March 2021.

Publications

Books and papers, a selection: * 1970. ''An Application of a Model of Rasch'' * 1999. ''Research Methodology in the Social, Behavioural and Life Sciences''. With Herman J. Ader * 2008
Advising on Research Methods: a consultant's companion
'' With

Herman J. Adèr Hermanus Johannes "Herman J." Adèr (born May 20, 1940Herman J. Adèr biography
at ''jvank.nl''. Accessed Octob ...

and David J. Hand (eds.). Johannes van Kessel Publ. p. 244. * 2011. ''A Conceptual Introduction to Psychometrics'' Articles, a selection: * Flier, H., Mellenbergh, G. J., Adèr, H. J., & Wijn, M. (1984). An iterative item bias detection method. Journal of educational measurement, 21(2), 131-145.

References

External links

Gideon J. Mellenbergh
webpage at the University of Amsterdam. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mellenbergh, Gideon J. 1938 births 2021 deaths Dutch psychologists University of Amsterdam alumni University of Amsterdam faculty Scientists from Amsterdam Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Quantitative psychologists