My research spans several related research areas of differential, educational, cognitive, applied experimental, and industrial and organizational psychology. Theory and empirical research I have conducted relates to the nature of adult learning, skill acquisition, student and employee selection, training, abilities, personality, and motivation. In collaboration with Professor Kanfer and our students, recent empirical research and theoretical contributions address the ability, motivation, personality, interest, and self-concept determinants of skilled performance and training success, and on the development and expression of intellectual competence in adulthood. Current research projects focus on age differences and gender differences in the breadth and depth of adult knowledge, and on the taxonomic nature of perceptual speed abilities and their role in the development of skilled performance.

Affiliations

American Educational Research Association
American Psychological Association
    Fellow, Division 1 -- General
    Psychology
    Fellow, Division 3 -- Experimental Psychology
    Fellow, Division 5 -- Division of Evaluation, Measurement, and
    Statistics
    Member, Division 15 -- Educational Psychology
    Fellow, Division 20 -- Adult Development and Aging
    Fellow, Division 21 -- Applied Experimental and Engineering Psychology
American Psychological Society (Charter Fellow)
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (Fellow) 
International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP)
    Division of Psychological Assessment and Evaluation
International Society for the Study of Individual Differences (ISSID)
National Council on Measurement in Education
Psychonomic Society
Sigma Xi

Selected Publications

• Ackerman, P. L. (2009). On weaving personality into a tapestry of traits. British Journal of Psychology, 100, 249-252.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Kanfer, R. (2009). Test length and cognitive fatigue: an empirical examination of performance effects and examinee reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 15, 163-181.
• Ackerman, P. L. (2008). Knowledge and cognitive aging. In F. Craik & T. Salthouse (Eds.) The Handbook of Aging and Cognition: Third Edition, (pp. 443-489). New York: Psychology Press.
• Kanfer, R. & Ackerman, P. L. (2008). Aging and work motivation. In C. Wankel (Ed.) Handbook of 21st Century Management, (pp. 160-169). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Ackerman, P. L., Kanfer, R., & Wolman, S. D. (2008). Effects of total SAT test time on performance and fatigue. College Board Research Note #RN-37. New York: College Board.
• Ackerman, P. L. (2007). New developments in understanding skilled performance. Current Directions in Psychological Research, 16, 235-239.
• Ackerman, P. L. (2007). Bridging science and application. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 13, 179-181.
• Ackerman, P. L. (2007). Knowledge, abilities, and will. In J. S. Carlson, & J. R. Levin (Eds.). Educating the Evolved Mind: Conceptual foundations for an Evolutionary Educational Psychology (pp. 101-108). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Beier, M. E. (2007). Further explorations of perceptual speed abilities, in the context of assessment methods, cognitive abilities and individual differences during skill acquisition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 13, 249-272.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Wolman, S. D. (2007). Determinants and validity of self-estimates of abilities and self-concept measures. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 13, 57-78.
• Beier, M. E., & Ackerman, P. L. (2007). Cognitive abilities in personnel selection and testing. In F. Durso, R. Nickerson, S. Dumais, S. Lewandowsky, & T. Perfect (Eds.), Handbook of Applied Cognition (2nd Ed) (pp. 605-627). NY: Wiley.
• Voelkle, M. C., Ackerman, P. L., & Wittmann, W. W. (2007). Effect sizes and F-ratios below 1.0: Sense or nonsense. Methodology: European Journal of Research Methods for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, 3, 35-46.
• Voelkle, M. C., Wittmann, W. W., & Ackerman, P. L. (2007). Abilities and skill acquisition: A latent growth curve approach. Learning and Individual Differences, 16, 303-319.
• Ackerman, P. L. (2006). Personality, trait complexes, and adult intelligence. In A. Eliasz, S. Hampson, & B. de Raad (Eds.) Advances in Personality, Volume II (pp. 91-112), New York: Psychology Press.
• Ackerman, P. L. (2006). Cognitive sex differences and mathematics and science achievement. American Psychologist, 61, 722-723.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Beier, M. E. (2006). Determinants of domain knowledge and independent study learning in an adult sample. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 366-381.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Beier, M. E. (2006). Methods for studying the structure of expertise: psychometric approaches. In A. Ericsson, P. Feltovich, N. Charness, & R. R. Hoffman (Eds.). Cambridge Handbook on Expertise and Expert Performance, (pp. 147-166). New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Lohman, D. F. (2006). Individual differences in cognitive functions. In P. A. Alexander, P. R. Pintrich, & P. H. Winne (Eds.), Handbook of Educational Psychology, 2nd Edition (pp. 139-161). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Chamorro-Premuzic, T., Furnham, A., & Ackerman, P. L. (2006). Ability and personality correlates of general knowledge. Personality and Individual Differences, 41, 419-429.
• Chamorro-Premuzic, T., Furnham, A., & Ackerman, P. L. (2006). Incremental validity of typical intellectual engagement as predictor of different academic performance measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 87, 261-268.
• Ackerman, P. L., Beier, M. E., & Boyle, M. O. (2005) Working memory and intelligence: The same or different constructs? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 30-60.
• Ackerman, P. L. (2005). Ability determinants of individual differences in skilled performance. In Sternberg, R. J., & Pretz, J. E. (Eds.) Cognition and Intelligence: Identifying the Mechanisms of the Mind (pp. 142-159). NY: Cambridge University Press.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Beier, M. E. (2005). Knowledge and Intelligence. In O. Wilhelm, & R. Engle (Eds.) Handbook of understanding and measuring intelligence. (pp. 125-139). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Kanfer, R. (2005). Trait complexes, learning, and Brunswik Symmetry. Chapter in A. Beuducel, B. Biehl, M. Bosnjak, W. Conrad, G. Schönberger, & D. Wagener (Eds.), pp. 21-38. Multivariate Research Strategies: Fetschrift in honor of Werner W. Wittmann. Aachen, Germany: Shaker Verlag.
• Beier, M. E., & Ackerman, P. L. (2005). Working memory and intelligence: different constructs. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 72-75.
• Beier, M. E., & Ackerman, P. L. (2005). Age, ability and the role of prior knowledge on the acquisition of new domain knowledge. Psychology and Aging, 20, 341-355.
• Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (2005). Work competence: A person-oriented perspective. In A. J. Elliot & C. S. Dweck (Eds.), Handbook of Competence and Motivation (pp. 336-353.) New York: Guilford Publications.
• Morris, M. G., Venkatesh, V., & Ackerman, P. L. (2005). Gender and age differences in employee decisions about new technology: An extension to the theory of planned behavior. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 52(1), 69-84.
• Wolf, M. B., & Ackerman, P. L. (2005). Etraversion and intelligence: A meta-analytic investigation. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 531-542.
• Beier, M. E., & Ackerman, P. L. (2004). A reappraisal of the relationship between span memory and intelligence via “best evidence synthesis.” Intelligence: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 32 (6), 607-619.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Kanfer, R. (2004). Cognitive, affective, and conative aspects of adult intellect within a typical and maximal performance framework. In D. Y. Dai & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.) Motivation, emotion, and cognition: Integrated perspectives on intellectual functioning (pp. 119-141). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
• Boyle, M. O., & Ackerman, P. L. (2004). Individual differences in skill acquisition. In A. M. Williams, N. J. Hodges, M. A. Scott, & M. L. J. Court (Eds). Skill acquisition in sport: Research, theory and practice (pp. 84-102). Taylor and Francis/Routledge.
• Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (2004). Aging, adult development and work motivation. Academy of Management Review, 29(3), 440-458.
• Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Sykes, T. A., & Ackerman, P. L. (2004). Individual reactions to new technologies in the workplace: The role of gender as a psychological construct. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34(3), 445-467.
• Ackerman, P. L. & Lohman, D. F. (2003). Education and g. Chapter in H. Nyborg (Ed.). The scientific study of general intelligence — Tribute to Arthur R. Jensen (pp. 275-292). Amsterdam: Pergamon/Elsevier Science.
• Ackerman, P. L. (2003). Cognitive ability and non-ability trait determinants of expertise. Educational Researcher, 32(8), 15-20.
• Ackerman, P. L. (2003). Aptitude complexes and trait complexes. Educational Psychologist, 38, 85-93.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Beier, M. E. (2003). Intelligence, personality, and interests in the career choice process. Journal of Career Assessment, 11(2), 205-218.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Beier, M. E. (2003). Trait complexes, cognitive investment and domain knowledge. Chapter in R. J. Sternberg & E. L. Grigorenko (Eds.). Perspectives on the psychology of abilities, competencies, and expertise. (pp. 1-30). NY: Cambridge University Press.
• Beier, M. E., & Ackerman, P. L. (2003). Determinants of health knowledge: An investigation of age, gender, abilities, personality, and interests. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84 (2), 439-448.
• Ackerman, P. L. (2002). Gender differences in intelligence and knowledge: How should we look at achievement score differences? Issues in Education: Contributions from Educational Psychology, 8(1), 21-29.
• Ackerman, P. L., Beier, M. B., & Bowen, K. R. (2002). What we really know about our abilities and our knowledge. Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 587-605.
• Ackerman, P. L., Beier, M. E., & Boyle, M. O. (2002). Individual differences in working memory within a nomological network of cognitive and perceptual speed abilities. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 131, 567-589.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Cianciolo, A. T. (2002). Ability and task constraint determinants of complex task performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 8(3), 194-208.
• Ackerman, P. L., Bowen, K. R., Beier, M. B., & Kanfer, R. (2001). Determinants of individual differences and gender differences in knowledge. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 797-825.
• Beier, M. E., & Ackerman, P. L. (2001). Current events knowledge in adults: An investigation of age, intelligence and non-ability determinants. Psychology and Aging, 16, 615-628.
• Venkatesh, V., Morris, M., & Ackerman, P. L. (2000). A longitudinal field investigation of gender differences in individual technology adoption decision making processes. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 83, 33-60.
• Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (2000). Individual differences in work motivation: Further explorations of a trait framework. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 49 (3), 469-481.
• Ackerman, P. L. (2000). Domain-specific knowledge as the “dark matter” of adult intelligence: gf/gc, personality and interest correlates. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 55B (2), P69-P84.
• Ackerman, P. L. (2000). A reappraisal of the ability determinants of individual differences in skilled performance. Psychologische Beiträge, 42, 4-17.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Cianciolo, A. T. (2000). Cognitive, perceptual speed, and psychomotor determinants of individual differences during skill acquisition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 6, 259-290.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Rolfhus, E. L. (1999). The locus of adult intelligence: Knowledge, abilities, and non-ability traits. Psychology and Aging, 14, 314-330.
• Rolfhus, E. L., & Ackerman, P. L. (1999). Assessing individual differences in knowledge: Knowledge structures and traits. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 511-526.
• Ackerman, P. L., Kyllonen, P. C., & Roberts R. D. (Editors). (1999). Learning and Individual Differences: Process, Trait, and Content Determinants. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Heggestad, E. D. (1997). Intelligence, personality, and interests: Evidence for overlapping traits. Psychological Bulletin, 121, 219-245.
• Ackerman, P. L. (1997). Personality, self-concept, interests, and intelligence: Which construct doesn’t fit? Journal of Personality, 65(2), 171-204.
• Schneider, R. J., Ackerman, P. L., & Kanfer, R. (1996). To “act wisely in human relations:” Exploring the dimensions of social competence. Personality and Individual Differences, 21, 469-481.
• Murtha, T. C., Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (1996). Towards an interactionist taxonomy of personality and situations: An integrative situational-dispositional representation of personality traits. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 193-207.
• Goska, R. E., & Ackerman, P. L. (1996). An aptitude-treatment interaction approach to transfer within training. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 249-259.
• Ackerman, P. L. (1996). Adult Intelligence. ERIC/AE Digest Series EDO-TM-96-03. Washington, DC: Catholic University/U.S. Department of Education.
• Ackerman, P. L. (1996). A theory of adult intellectual development: process, personality, interests, and knowledge. Intelligence, 22, 229-259.
• Ackerman, P. L., Kanfer, R., & Goff, M. (1995). Cognitive and noncognitive determinants and consequences of complex skill acquisition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 1, 270-304.
• Ackerman, P. L. (1994). Intelligence, attention, and learning: Maximal and typical performance. Chapter in D. K. Detterman (Ed.) Current Topics in Human Intelligence; Volume 4: Theories of Intelligence, pp. 1-27. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Woltz, D.J. (1994). Determinants of learning and performance in an associative memory/substitution task: Task constraints, individual differences, and volition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86, 487-515.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Goff, M. (1994). Typical intellectual engagement and personality: Reply to Rocklin (1994). Journal of Educational Psychology, 86, 150-153.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Kanfer, R. (1993). Integrating laboratory and field study for improving selection: Development of a battery for predicting air traffic controller success. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 413-432.

Contact Information

Office Location: 227 Psychology Building
Phone Number: 404/894-5611
FAX: 404/894-6904
E-mail: pa30@prism.gatech.edu

My research examines the role of motivation, personality, emotion, and self-regulation in training, performance, and work transitions across the lifespan. During the past few years, I have worked with other faculty and students on laboratory and field projects investigating the structure and influence of motivational traits (such as mastery, desire to learn, competitiveness, worry and emotionality) on goals and skill training, the personality-motivational determinants and consequences of job search behavior, and the predictive validity of traits for academic and job success. Current research interests also include emotion regulation, motivation in the aging workforce, and person determinants of contextual work behaviors. Support for this work has been provided by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.