Amanda Kay Montoya
akmontoya
Associate Professor
Ph.D.: The Ohio State University
Primary Area: Quantitative
Address: 4530 Pritzker Hall
Phone: 310-794-5069
Email: akmontoya@psych.ucla.edu
Research and Teaching Interests:
Dr. Montoya will be accepting applications for PhD students in the Quantitative Psychology area to begin in Fall 2024.
My research focuses on improving the ability of psychology researchers to answer their questions of interest using sound statistical methods and by developing easy-to-use tools to encourage researchers to use the most advanced methods available. I have focused my research on mediation, moderation, conditional process models, structural equation modeling, and measurement including factor analysis and item response theory. I am also interested in improving our ability to conduct meta-science by developing statistical methods in meta-analysis, and understanding the impact of research practices on our ability to create replicable science. Additionally, I have previous experience and hope to continue my research focused on understanding and ameliorating issues of inequity in education, particularly for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
I value critical thinking, development of practical skills, and the ability to translate from real-life research problems to statistical methods and back again. I aim to implement these values by using active learning strategies in my classroom, teaching multiple statistical programming languages, and focusing my teaching and student assessment on implementation and interpretation. I teach Psych 100A (Psychological Statistics), Psych 250C (Advanced Psychological Statistics – Regression Analysis), and Psych 254B (Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis).
Biography:
Amanda Kay Montoya started as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at UCLA in July 2018. She received her PhD in Quantitative Psychology from the Ohio State University in 2018 under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Hayes. She completed her M.A. in Psychology and M.S. in Statistics at Ohio State in 2016. She graduated from the University of Washington with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Mathematics in 2013. Her hobbies include rock climbing, aerial circus arts, board games, and cosplay.
Representative Publications:
See lab webpage.
Dr. Montoya's lab webpage