Prof. Dr. Valentin Bucik

Professor for Psychological Methodology

Biography

1961, 2. May; born in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Full-time working position: Professor for Psychological Methodology at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana.

Education:

1985 - B. Sc. at the Department of Psychology, University of Ljubljana (thesis: “The selection procedure at the Department of Psychology in Ljubljana: its prognostic validity regarding student’s success”).

1989 - M.Sc. at the Department of Psychology, University of Ljubljana (thesis: “Development of psychophysical procedures for evaluating the time of photochemical processes in human retina”).

1993 – PhD at the Department of Psychology, University of Ljubljana (thesis: “Comparative validation of the speed of information processing paradigms and their relation to the classical construct of general (g) intelligence”).

Employment:

1985 - Teaching psychology for one year at the Secondary school of pharmacy in Ljubljana.

1986 - Employed full time at the Department of psychology - University of Ljubljana as the Assistant for Psychometrics.

1987 - Elected as “Assistant for Psychometrics and Psychological Methodology” (reelected 1990)

1994 - Elected as “Assistant professor for Psychological Methodology”.

1999 - Elected as “Associate Professor for Psychological Methodology”

2005 - Elected as “Full Professor for Psychological Methodology”.

Experience

Professional activities:

• Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana (2007-2011)

• Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana (2005-2007)

• Head of Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana (2002-2005 and 2015-2019)

• Deputy-Head of Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana (2000-2002)

• Editor-in-Chief of the Psihološka obzorja / Horizons of Psychology, the official journal of the Slovene Psychological Association (1999->2005), member of Editorial Board (2005->)

• Member of Editorial Boards of journals Suvremena Psihologija (Croatia; 2002->), Psihologijske teme (Croatia; 2002->), School Field (Slovenia; 2003->)

• One of four Associate Editors of the European Journal of Psychological Assessment (2007-2011)

• Reviewer of the articles in journals Personality and Individual Differences, European Journal of Psychological Assessment, Review of Psychology, Croatian Medical Journal, Suvremena psihologija, Psihološka obzorja, Metodološki zvezki, Kinesiologia Slovenica

Longer visits to foreign universities:

1991 – Visiting the Institut für Psychologie, Universität Wien (Austria), 1 month; Knafelj fellowship;

1993 – Visiting the Institut für Psychologie, Universität Wien (Austria), 1 month; Rector Conference ARGE Alpe-Adria fellowship;

1994 – Visiting researcher at the Institut für Psychologie, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz (Austria); 2 months; Rector Conference ARGE Alpe-Adria fellowship;

1995 – Visiting researcher at the Institut für Psychologie, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz (Austria); 1 month; Austrian Institute for Eastern and Middle Europe fellowship;

1996 - Visiting researcher at the Institut für Psychologie, Universität Trier (D); 1 month; TEMPUS fellowship;

2000-> lectures on post-graduate programs of psychology at the University of Zagreb (Croatia), University of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), University of Zürich (Switzerland).

1999-2011 – elected Visiting Full Professor at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (“Psychometrics I” and “Psychometrics II”)

2011-2017 Visiting Professor at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of St. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Slovakia (“Research Methods in Psychology” – 3rd cycle (PhD program)) and “Garant of the study program of psychology of the 2nd and 3rd circle”

2016-> Visiting Profesor in the program of Psychology at University Donja Gorica, Podgorica, Montenegro

2013-> periodical lectures in post-graduate program (3rd Bologna cycle) of psychology at the University of Rijeka (Croatia)(“Psychological Methodology”)

Teaching

Lectures to full-time and part-time students of psychology (courses: “Methodology of research in psychology”, “Multivariate methods”, “Test theory”, “Intelligence, giftedness, creativity” (1st Bologna cycle), “Applied psychometrics” (2nd Bologna cycle), “Research methodology in psychology” (3rd Bologna cycle)

Currently mentor or co-mentor to 8 PhD students (ongoing projects).

Research

Main research areas:

psychophysics, psychological methodology (comparative evaluation of the multivariate statistical methods, especially taxonomic techniques, application of the multivariate analyses in marketing research, causal modeling with covariance structure analyses), psychological testing (examination of the psychometric properties of certain frequently used psychodiagnostic instruments, test construction, modification and adaptation, creating new tasks/tests for measuring mental speed, assessment), and different areas of differential psychology (examining the structure of psychometric intelligence and the relationship between mental speed and internal structure of psychometric intelligence; relationship between intelligence, temperament and personality structure), methodological problems of knowledge assessment and examination in schools, tracking the standards of quality in school and educational system evaluation. Relationship between intelligence, giftedness and creativity. Promoting of giftedness through arts education and creativity in arts.

Principal researcher in the national research projects (1995->):

• Speed of information processing in brain as the basis of the hierarchical structure of intelligence;

• Intelligence, mental speed and dimensions of personality,

• Evaluation of the Matura examination and its predictive validity for University studies,

• Ensuring the quality of education in Slovenia,

• Strengthening the information literacy, (with the Department of Psych., University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina),

• Evaluation of the examination process in schools,

• Personality and cognition as determinants of decision,

• Personality, cognition and decision making in the life-perspective,

• Development of the tests factor verbal stimuli processing: cognitive and audiological perspectives.

• Member of research teams: Psychological research (99-03), Psychological research - personality and cognition as decision making factors (04-08) and Psychological research - personality, cognition and decision making in life perspective (08-14),

• Collaborator in research project AviD: AvdioVizual IDentification of authenticity of the speaker for ensuring the safeness of communication (‘07-‘09).

As an active participant (lecture, oral presentation, poster, organizer and/or moderator of a symposia) he attended more than 70 (mainly international) scientific and professional meetings (congresses, conferences, symposia etc.) in the last 30 years (cf. bibliography at http://izumbib.izum.si/bibliografije/Y20171109115425-A3105635.html).

Memberships

member of The National Committee for General Matura (1998-2003, 2008-2012 and 2012-2016)

chair of The National Committee for General Matura (2004-2008)

Vice-Chair of The National Evaluation Board for Slovene school system (2001-2006)

member of the Expert Committee for gifted students at the National Education Institute Slovenia (2013-2016 in 2018-2020)

Professional Collaborator of

• Office for School Development of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (knowledge assessment in schools);

• National Education Institute Slovenia;

• National Examination Center and Center of Professional Education in setting the system of knowledge assessment in Matura examination;

• Center for Psychodiagnostics (development, adaptations, translations and evaluation of psychometric properties of psychological tests (e.g.The Big Five Questionnaires, Raven’s Progressive Matrices,Wechsler’s Scales of Intelligence (WISC and WAIS), Psychodiagnostics in primary schools, Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Pavlovian Temperament Survey …)

• member of the Slovene Psychological Association (DPS, 1988->; member of the Test Committee until 2009)

• member of EAPA, the European Association of Psychological Assessment (1995->; Executive Committee member 2006-2011; Secretary General of the EC 2007-2011)

• member of ISSID, the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences (1996->)

• member of ISIR, the International Society for Intelligence Research (2000->)

Contact information

Office hours         Monday, 11:30 - 13:00

Room      129a

Telephone           +386 1 4213 595

email      valentin.bucik@ff.uni-lj.si

URL: http://psy.ff.uni-lj.si/en/people/Valentin.Bucik