Christopher J. Schmank

Christopher J. Schmank

Statistics Consultant and Instructor/Assistant Professor

Saint Louis University

About Me

Hello, my name is Christopher J. Schmank and I am an Instructor and the Statistics Consultant for the Department of Psychology at Saint Louis University.

My primary research interests include:

  1. How does regulating psychosocial stress impact language production and other cognitive abilities?
  2. How does regulating emotion impact processing speed and other cognitive abilities?
  3. How does healthy cognitive aging impact the experience of psychosocial stress and/or emotional regulation AND does this change the impact on cognition?

Please contact me if you have any questions about my research or teaching experience!

A secondary research interest of mine is:

User eXperience (UX) research, strategy, and design!

During my Ph.D. I completed an internship focusing on UX related research with Hit Point Studios in Los Angeles, CA. This experience paved the way for several other consulting positions which involved competitive analyses and briefs, application quality assurance testing, in-person user experience interviews and other forms of UX data collection.

I also served as a graduate teaching assistant for the UX courses offered through the Applied Cognitive Psychology program at Claremont Graduate University (i.e., Strategy and Design, PSY 350UX; Usability Testing and Interaction Design, PSY 350UT; and User Experience Research Methodology, PSY 350UR).

Check out my UX Portfolio: CLICK HERE!

Interests
  • Psychosocial Stress
  • Emotional Regulation
  • Cognitive Ability
  • Statistics/Statistical Modeling
  • UX/Human Centered Design
Education
  • Ph.D. Applied Cognitive Psychology, Anticipated 2024

    Claremont Graduate University

  • M.A. Psychological Sciences (Cognition Concentration), 2016

    University of Colorado Colorado Springs

  • B.A. Psychology (Philosophy Minor), 2010

    Saint Louis University

Skills

Cognitive Science Research
Psychological Science Methods
Statistics Teaching Experience
Human Centered Design/UX
Open Source Advocate
R-Studio
Latent Variable Modeling
Cat Enthusiast
Psychometric Network Analysis

Publications

(2021). Psychometric models of individual differences in reading comprehension: A reanalysis of Freed, Hamilton, and Long (2017). Journal of Memory and Language.

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(2021). Investigating the structure of Intelligence using latent variable and psychometric network modeling: A commentary and reanalysis of McFarland (2020). Journal of Intelligence.

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(2021). The struggle is real: Challenges and solutions in theory building. Psychological Inquiry.

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(2019). Psychometric network analysis of the Hungarian WAIS. Journal of Intelligence.

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(2019). Adults of all ages experience increased tip-of-the-tongue states under ostensible evaluative observation. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition.

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(2018). Tip of the tongue states increase under evaluative observation. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research.

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Teaching Experience

 
 
 
 
 
Psychometric Theory (PSY 5090)
Jan 2024 – Present
 
 
 
 
 
Applied Multivariate Statistics (PSY 6500)
Jan 2024 – Present
 
 
 
 
 
Applied Univariate Statistics (PSY 5790)
Aug 2023 – Present
 
 
 
 
 
Cognitive Psychology (PSY 3120)
Aug 2023 – Present
 
 
 
 
 
User Experience: Interaction Design and Usability Testing (PSY 350UT)
Aug 2020 – May 2023
 
 
 
 
 
User Experience: Strategy & Design (PSY 350UX)
Jan 2021 – Dec 2022
 
 
 
 
 
Introductory Statistics for Psychological Science (PSYC 158)
Aug 2020 – Dec 2021
 
 
 
 
 
Introduction to Statistics for Psychology (PSYC 109)
Jan 2017 – Dec 2021
 
 
 
 
 
Psychology Senior Research Seminar (PSYC 198)
Jan 2017 – Dec 2021
 
 
 
 
 
Structural Equation Modeling (PSY 315H)
Aug 2019 – Dec 2021
 
 
 
 
 
Factor Analysis (PSY 315F)
Aug 2019 – Dec 2021
 
 
 
 
 
Quantitative Analysis & Statistics for Evaluation (EVAL 320-Online)
Aug 2019 – May 2019
 
 
 
 
 
Mixed Methods in Evaluation & Applied Research (EVAL 330-Online)
Aug 2019 – May 2019
 
 
 
 
 
Social Science Statistics Tutor
Excel Mathematics Center
Aug 2014 – Dec 2016

Projects

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Do Emotions Age Nicely (DEAN)?
Grant funded collaboration between Lise Abrams, PhD, Andrew Conway, PhD and Christopher J. Schmank, MA on Aging, Emotion Regulation, and Processing Speed.
Do Emotions Age Nicely (DEAN)?
The DARCI Project
Grant funded collaboration between Lise Abrams, PhD and Andrew Conway, PhD on Aging, Rationality, and Intelligence.
The DARCI Project
User Experience: Data Collection and Management
As a user experience researcher I have assisted several companies as a consultant. One avenue of research involved generating competitive analyses of related products or services. A second avenue of research involved conducting research to assess the overall user experience of an Augmented Reality education application.
User Experience: Data Collection and Management
Psychometric models of individual differences in reading comprehension - A reanalysis of Freed, Hamilton, and Long (2017)
This research project is the culmination of a first year project by Sara Anne Goring submitted and accepted by the Journal of Memory and Language.
Psychometric models of individual differences in reading comprehension - A reanalysis of Freed, Hamilton, and Long (2017)
Cognitive Aging and Psychometric Modeling
This poster was scheduled to be presented at the Cognitive Aging Conference (April, 2020), which was postponed due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Cognitive Aging and Psychometric Modeling
Introduction to R
This is an ongoing, side-project motivated to help undergraduate psychology students learn R.
Introduction to R
Unified Models of Cognitive Ability
An exploration of a Unified Network Model of Intelligence. Psychometric network analysis of various Cognitive Ability measures.
Unified Models of Cognitive Ability
Tip-of-the-Tongue Research
Various research projects on how psychosocial stress and evaluative observation impact tip-of-the-tongue states.
Tip-of-the-Tongue Research

Research Experience

 
 
 
 
 
Statistics Consultant
Aug 2023 – Present Supervisor: Jeremiah Weinstock, PhD
 
 
 
 
 
User Experience Research Assistant
Oct 2020 – Aug 2022 Supervisor: Dylan Watkins & Tanya Miramontes
 
 
 
 
 
User Experience Research Assistant - Pebble XR
Here.LA
Los Angeles, CA
Feb 2021 – May 2021 Supervisor: Amber Hawkes & Shannon Davis
 
 
 
 
 
User Experience Research Assistant
May 2019 – Aug 2022 Supervisor: Ariella Lehrer, Ph.D
 
 
 
 
 
Graduate Research Assistant
Aug 2017 – Present Supervisor: Andrew R.A. Conway, PhD
 
 
 
 
 
Specialized Consultant
Accenture Talent and Innovation Lab
Claremont Graduate University
Mar 2019 – Sep 2019 Supervisor: Christopher Chen, MA
 
 
 
 
 
Research Associate
Accenture Talent and Innovation Lab
Claremont Graduate University
Aug 2018 – Mar 2019 Supervisor: Christopher Chen, MA
 
 
 
 
 
Graduate Research Assistant
Language and Memory Problems Lab
University of Colorado Colorado Springs
Aug 2012 – Aug 2017 Supervisor: Lori E. James, PhD
 
 
 
 
 
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Cognitive Neuroscience of Stress Lab
Saint Louis University
Dec 2008 – Dec 2011 Supervisor: Tony W. Buchanan, PhD
 
 
 
 
 
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Brain, Learning, and Cognition Lab
Saint Louis University
Aug 2009 – Jun 2011 Supervisor: Christopher Conway, PhD
 
 
 
 
 
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Cognition and Memory Lab
Saint Louis University
Jan 2008 – May 2011 Supervisor: Donna LaVoie, PhD and Kethera Fogler, PhD

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